Abomination Thursdays
by linksofmemories
Summary: fanfic100 challenge for Castiel/Meg. Megstiel. Will not be completed, read at your own risk.
1. Beginnings

_001. Beginnings_

She would never be exactly sure what had brought her to Kansas of all places that day. Especially that particular town in Kansas, or even that particular spot. But she could easily say that she was glad she did come.

Meg hadn't been living in a hole since the last time she had seen the Winchesters and their favorite angel pal. She knew exactly what had been happening through a few sources, but also through the human news surprisingly. A news broadcast of a man claiming to be god in a church was all she needed to have her curiosity perked. One quick trip to said church and a glance at the stained glass window cemented her suspicions.

Clarence had lost his shit.

It was only a matter of time, really. Fighting a civil war in heaven, working with Crowley, and taking in thousands of souls probably didn't sit too well with him. Now he was playing god with all of this borrowed power, not fully realizing his own strength.

The smartest thing that Meg could do was to travel to the opposite side of the country until he had burned off all of that extra power. But curiosity truly got the best of her and now she was at a reservoir in Bootbock, Kansas.

Earlier on in the day she had witnessed Castiel's meatsuit submerge into the water (poisoning the water supply in the process, but she couldn't have cared less about that). The Winchesters and that old guy (Billy? Bobby?) had mourned his death for about 10 seconds before moving on, taking the trench coat in the process.

It was night now and Meg found herself leaning against the fence that led to the reservoir. There was a good chance that he was still alive, but an even better chance that an empty meatsuit was just stuck at the bottom. She was never that good at conflicts, but she was also never good at working alone.

There had always been some underling somewhere that she could kick around to do all of the tedious tasks for her, not this time though. Crowley was still alive and still looking for demons who had sided with Lucifer which meant that she had a huge target on her back. Now that she was alone it seemed that she was in more danger than before. And what better way to ward off enemies than with an angel tagging along?

The plan wasn't exactly foolproof, but if Clarence was still alive then she may be able to keep him around. He had helped her out last time (along with the Winchesters, but they didn't really count anymore) and had even gotten a little hands-y with her. She wasn't stupid to think that he would agree to be an underling, but maybe a partner or a confidant.

After contemplating for a few more moments, Meg swung open the gate and walked to the edge of the water. Looking down into the reservoir's depths, she gave a deep sigh before kicking off her boots.

"You better be alive, Clarence," she said under her breath, shrugging her jacket off of her shoulders.

Once she had stripped down to nothing but her underwear (because wet jeans were the absolute worst), Meg looked down into the clear water before dipping a toe in. It was probably freezing to a human, but to her it was lukewarm. Nodding in approval, Meg took a few steps into the shallow water.

She walked into the water until she was waist-deep before diving under. Opening her eyes, she found herself grateful that she was in the public water supply since it was virtually clean. There wasn't a lot of gunk floating around anywhere, making a body probably the easiest thing to look for.

Meg was close to the place where he had plunged under when she saw a necktie floating a ways in front of her. She grabbed the tie and kicked up with her legs to return to the surface. Under further inspection it was clear that this was his tie which meant that she was getting close.

Again she ducked down into the water, this time going a bit deeper. She didn't know what she was expecting when she found him, but him lying on the floor of the reservoir with a perfectly intact meatsuit wasn't something she had thought of. His clothes weren't exactly in the best condition, but everything else was fine. It was as if nothing had touched him at all.

When Meg reached him she wrapped an arm around his stomach and kicked up once again to return to the surface. Breaking the water, it was obvious that the last thing his head wanted to do was stay above water much to her aggravation.

"Come on, Clarence," Meg groaned as she reached the shallow end of the reservoir again, her feet brushing the bottom. "Work with me here."

Working with her seemed to be the opposite of what his body wanted to do though. His head kept lolling to the side and eventually Meg got fed up and just let it dip into the water. It's not like he knew he was gulping down water, and he wasn't exactly her responsibility. If he really was still alive then as soon as he wakes up he should shower her with gratitude.

Gratitude would have to wait though. Meg was able to bring his body to the edge of the water and back onto land. Once the upper part of his body was safely on land, Meg climbed out of the reservoir and made her way toward her discarded clothes. She changed back into her shirt and jeans, leaving her jacket and boots next to the fence. Meg made her way back to Castiel and continued dragging his body completely out of the water.

He wasn't breathing, he looked pale, and there was no pulse. Everything signified that he was dead, but Meg wasn't going to give up just yet. She had just dived into _public_ water for that guy; there was no way in hell that she was going to assume that he was dead just because he wasn't breathing. He was an angel after all.

Pressing her clasped hands against his chest, Meg started to press down in measured pumps. She could vaguely remember CPR lessons when she was a human all of those years ago. You weren't supposed to press too hard because something might get broken or smashed or something. But in the case of bringing an angel back to life and her being much stronger than a human, this was probably the exception.

A few minutes passed and there was no difference in his state. He still appeared to be completely dead. Pulling back her hair, Meg stooped low and tilted his head back before pressing her lips against his, blowing air into his lungs. After giving a few more breaths, she continued to pound against his chest. Her patience was growing thin though, and her measured compressions turned to erratic punches to the chest.

"Wake up, you stupid pansy!" she growled, punching his chest and hearing something give a sharp crack.

He didn't wake up though, nor did he give any signs that he _would_ wake up. The entire thing was beginning to seem pointless as she pressed her head against his chest and shut her eyes. Nothing. No heartbeat, no breathing, absolutely nothing.

Meg was about to give up entirely when she finally heard something. It wasn't a pulse or an intake of breath, but something else. A single soul was resonating inside the meatsuit. Her goody two-shoes Clarence was still inside there after all. Sitting back up, Meg pressed her hands to his chest one more time and started the compressions again. After a few more pumps a choking noise filled the air and water started to gurgle out of his mouth.

Castiel's eyes shot open and he began to cough, clutching his chest with a pained expression before looking around wildly. She knew that he was probably looking for Winchester 1 and Winchester 2. There was no doubt in her mind that she was probably the last thing he expected to see.

When his eyes met hers, he didn't say anything. He didn't show any other emotion except for confusion and surprise. Talking probably wouldn't do too well either since he had been stuck at the bottom of a reservoir all day. So, she decided to speak for him.

"Yeah, you owe me one, Clarence."


	2. Food

_059. Food_

"Don't you need to eat something?" Meg asked.

"No," Castiel replied sharply.

It had been a few days since she had gotten him out of the reservoir and one word answers had become the norm. It was hard for her to form an alliance with him when he seemed to be determined to pretend that she didn't exist. Meg hadn't even received a "thank you" for her efforts, and she always had to hold her tongue before reminding him who saved his ass.

Pushing the envelope wasn't the smartest thing to do in case he decided to turn around and smite her one day. But she would probably need to start pushing the envelope if he didn't get any more vocal with her. She was only helping him for her own insurance and a monosyllabic angel wasn't much insurance to go on.

"Well, maybe you don't _need _to," Meg said. "But do you want to?"

He looked at her from across the hotel room and they held each other's gaze for a few moments before he darted his eyes away.

"Why would I want to eat?" he asked.

Meg sat up straighter in her armchair. She was finally getting a complete sentence out of him.

"Because you just want to," she shrugged. "It's not like you need a reason to eat, Clarence."

"Exactly, there's no reason for me to eat," he said, frustration growing in his voice. "So, why would I want to?"

"Because food tastes good?" she suggested.

Castiel didn't reply after that and she didn't have the patience to stick around for him to speak up. Standing up, she grabbed one of the hotel keycards before heading toward the hotel room door.

"You want anything at the breakfast bar?" she asked.

She took his lack of response as a "no" and headed out into the hotel hallway. The hall was only occupied by a maid knocking on doors for housekeeping. The maid smiled in greeting to Meg who ignored her in response. She was halfway down the hallway when the maid called out to her.

"Do you and your husband need any extra towels in your room?" she asked.

Meg turned around and looked the maid up and down. The urge to rip someone's head off was started to itch up on her, but she resisted. Besides, it didn't look like the woman had five more years left on her.

"No, we don't," Meg responded before making her way to the elevator at the end of the hall.

With her mind off of extra towels, Meg started to think of the "husband" remark. An angel being the husband to a demon? It sounded like the beginning of one hell of a bad joke. She wasn't playing house with Castiel, just getting him back on his feet so that she could add him to her contact list.

The elevator eventually made its way to the floor and the doors slid open. Stepping inside, Meg applauded herself on her hotel choice. She wasn't going to stay in some dinky motel like a Winchester and she sure wasn't taking Clarence to the Taj Mahal either. A generic hotel that was part of a hotel chain with a free breakfast in the morning was enough for her.

A dinging noise signified that she had reached the lobby. Exiting the elevator, Meg spotted the breakfast nook to the side and headed over. After grabbing an apple and a danish, she sat down at a vacant table in front of the TV.

The morning news usually had decent leads on to where demons might be hiding out. Of course sometimes it actually was just a human murdering spree, but most of the time it was one of her ex-pals getting bored. Sinking her teeth into the apple, Meg continued to watch the news with all of the people buzzing around her. All of those vacant humans, not even knowing that a demon was within five feet of them.

After finishing her breakfast, Meg headed back to the counter to get a few more danishes to bring up to the room. Maybe if she dangled one in front of him he would take it.

Once again in the elevator, Meg leaned against the back wall and thought of her next move. She needed to get some new clothes, for her and Clarence. He was still wearing that same suit and it was definitely time to retire it. She also needed to steal a car and get some cash. Meg groaned as the list seemed to weigh on her, it was so much easier when she could just get someone to do all of this for her.

The elevator ride was short and Meg headed down the hallway and back to their room. She swiped the keycard and opened the door to find that Castiel hadn't moved an inch. After closing the door behind her, Meg made her way to Castiel, placing the danishes on the table next to his chair.

"I don't care how pretty you look on the outside, your meatsuit is probably starving," Meg said, pointing toward the pastries. "Now eat before I shove those down your esophagus."

Castiel eyed the danishes before taking a cream cheese one and biting into it. Meg let out a sigh as she sunk into the armchair across from him. She waited until he had finished the first danish before starting with her questions.

"So, what happened to you?" she asked.

He looked at her, contemplated her question, and shook his head. "I'd like to ask you my questions before I answer yours."

Meg fought back an aggravated sigh before replying. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Why did you save my life?" he asked.

"Insurance," she shrugged, examining her fingernails in hopes that it looked like this was all no big deal.

"Insurance for what?" he pressed.

"For my safety," she said. "I already told you, you owe me. I get a get out of jail free card for my good deed."

"I thought you hated angels," he said.

"Oh, I do," she confirmed. "I just happen to have a soft spot for the fallen variety of angel."

That was probably the worst thing to say though. Castiel's eyes flickered to her immediately and there was pure anger behind those blue irises.

"_Don't _compare me to him," he all but growled.

"Come on, Clarence, there's obviously a connection there," she said nonchalantly. "There's no need to get your panties in a bunch."

This also seemed to be another completely wrong thing to say. Castiel stood up quickly, took two long strides across the room to her, and roughly grabbed the front of her shirt.

"I am _nothing _like him," he said. "_Nothing_."

"Okay, okay," Meg said, holding her hands up in defeat. "I take it back. Just calm down, I don't want you blowing a blood vessel or something."

"Why are you helping me?" he asked suddenly, the grip on her shirt tightening.

"I told you- insurance," she repeated.

"No, the insurance was saving me," he said testily. "Why are you still here? Giving me food? Taking care of me?"

She opened and closed her mouth as she tried to think of a lie. His patience was growing thin though, and the truth was going to come out eventually.

"I'm being hunted, okay?" she confessed, standing up and throwing her arms up in the air. "All of my contacts are giving me the cold shoulder and I've got nobody. So, I thought that-."

"That I would stay with you?" he finished for her, his face a mixture of disgust and amusement. "Why would I stay with an abomination like you?"

"Because, baby, you're just as much of an abomination as me," she said, not even trying to suppress her smirk.

Meg expected him to hit her, to storm out of the room and never look back, or for him to laugh in her face. The last thing she expected was for him to let go of her shirt and back away from her. His legs hit the back of his armchair and he sat back down.

Continuing to watch him, Meg was even more surprised when he grabbed another danish from the table next to him and started to eat again. It was like their conversation had never even happened.


	3. Sunrise

_031. Sunrise_

Since neither of them needed to sleep, things were awkward a lot longer than usual. They were almost always in each other's presence since Meg practically insisted that he didn't leave her sight. They had been going on living in the same hotel room for over a week and he still hadn't opened up to her on anything. He was still in the process of getting back on his feet.

Besides, he had never given a direct response to her suggestion. After he was ready to go back out into the world there was that one big question. Would he stay with her? His company wasn't the most exciting, but it was wanted. She wasn't sure if all of his powers were still intact, but even if they weren't his mere presence would probably send some demons away from hunting her.

Meg wasn't exactly sure what they would do if he stayed with her. Obviously they would be running (and probably fighting), but there had to be something else that they could do as well. Running and fighting couldn't keep someone entertained forever. Maybe they could hunt ghosts and demons like the Winchesters.

That was when Meg laughed out loud at her own joke. Hunting like the Winchesters was probably the funniest thing she had thought of in days.

Her sudden laugh got her the attention of Castiel who had been flipping through the hotel guest book for the thousandth time. He looked up at her and raised an eyebrow before glancing back to the book. Meg looked at him for a few moments before turning her attention to the window. The sun was beginning to rise, signifying the start of a new day.

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened to you?" she asked, breaking the long silence.

He didn't respond, and Meg thought that it was because he was ignoring her like usual. After glancing at him though she could tell that he was thinking of an appropriate response. Not wanting to ruin the chance of him deciding to tell her, Meg kept her mouth shut and turned to look back out of the window.

After a few long moments, he began to talk.

"I just wanted to end the war in heaven," he finally said. "Crowley was offering me a way to get the power to beat Raphael, to make sure that the apocalypse would stop for good."

He paused after this and Meg took a chance by turning around to face him. His face was in his hands and he looked completely defeated. She hated it when people like him acted so weakly. Meg knew how strong he was, with or without all of his angel powers intact. It was almost sickening to watch a creature stronger than herself to act like a kicked puppy. The puppy eyes weren't exactly helping either.

"It got out of hand though," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "_I _got out of hand. Crowley was going to work with Raphael and I decided to take care of it myself. I was desperate. I opened purgatory and took all of the souls in me. The power got the best of me and I made some very regretful choices. Dean, Sam, and Bobby were still willing to help me though. I was able to get rid of the souls, but some still stayed inside of me. Leviathans took over my body and poisoned that reservoir."

Meg was expecting him to go on when she realized that she knew what happened next. His entire explanation was him just skirting around the topic, never going into detail on any little thing. It also sounded completely rehearsed, like he had written it down and committed it to memory to recite to someone.

It was unclear whether or not Castiel wanted Meg to say anything. He was looking in her general direction, but not completely at her. She wondered briefly if he was avoiding looking at her face when she noticed that he was looking outside.

The sun had finally decided to make its way over the horizon and was casting a morning glow out onto the scenery. She found herself not being able to appreciate it completely. She had already seen so many sunrises before, so the overall effect was a little redundant.

"So, what now?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked in turn, finally looking at her directly.

"Where do we go from here, Clarence?" she clarified. "Are you going back to your Winchesters?"

"I'm not sure."

She decided not to press the subject any further and stood up from her armchair, stretching. Regardless if he was coming with her, she still had a lot to do. The list that she had made in her head a few days ago still hadn't had a single thing ticked off yet. Clothes would probably come first, then money, then the car. Each task seemed tedious to her since she had never actually had to steal a car before. Hitchhiking was easy, but stealing a car would probably be a little trickier.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I was thinking about taking a shower," she shrugged. "Care to join me?"

His blank face said that he didn't understand why he would want to take a shower with her or he simply wasn't amused by her suggestion.

"No, not what you're doing now, but after all of this," he said.

"Oh, I'm thinking about heading south," she shrugged. "It's been a while since I've seen the ocean."

"The ocean?" he questioned. "I didn't know that demons could appreciate such things."

"Well, I can," Meg said. "I actually kind of like the ocean. I'll have to get a few things first."

"Like what?" he asked.

She was about to respond when she realized what they were doing. They were talking like two normal people. It was as if they weren't sworn enemies. Just two people talking about future plans and nothing else. Meg wasn't exactly sure that she liked it, but answered his question anyway.

"Clothes, money, a car," she shrugged. "Just basic stuff."

"And how do you intend of acquiring these things?" he pressed.

"Stealing, mostly," she said bluntly. "And if we do go our separate ways then you have to let me get you some new clothes at least. That suit has seen much better days."

Castiel glanced down at the suit he had been wearing since he first took over the vessel. It really wasn't in the best condition, but it still functioned perfectly fine as clothing.

"I see nothing wrong with it," he said.

"Yeah, but I do," she countered. "End of discussion."

An argument could have been in the making, but they both let it slide. They were finally starting to kind of get along, and the least thing Meg wanted was for something to blow it. It was better for her own sake that he stayed close to her. Everyone needed insurance after all.


	4. Storm

_070. Storm_

"What about this one?" Meg suggested.

"I'm not sure," Castiel said, looking at the object in her hands warily.

"Clarence, you're worse than a teenage girl," Meg groaned, placing the shirt back on the rack she had taken it from.

They had been shopping for the past two hours and Castiel still hadn't bought a single thing. Meg, on the other hand, had bought a completely new wardrobe yesterday and was already sporting one of her new jackets. Castiel was at a complete loss though. He had only worn one outfit since coming to Earth and he could see no need in changing that.

That was until he noticed all of the strange looks he had received while going from shop to shop with Meg. His suit was in terrible condition and, after days of coaxing, he finally agreed to let Meg take him shopping. He hadn't asked where she had acquired the credit card that she had been using all day, but assumed that she had pickpocketed it on one of her various outings.

"I think you'll like this," Meg said, breaking Castiel out of his thoughts.

He looked over to where she was standing and noticed what she was holding up. It was an overcoat almost identical to the one he had worn so frequently. The only difference was that this one was black. Castiel made his way over to her and took the coat from her.

"It's nice," he said after a few moments of silence.

"So, is it a winner?" Meg asked.

"Yes, it will do," he confirmed.

"Good," Meg sighed in relief. "We're finally getting somewhere. I guess we better pick up the basics before we go any further."

"Basics?" Castiel inquired as Meg walked down an aisle and out of sight.

He wasn't sure if he should follow her or not. Waiting seemed to be the only option, this only gaining him even stranger looks from passersby. He was standing by himself in a department store in a ruined suit with an overcoat in his hands.

This didn't last long though. He spotted Meg making her way toward him, pushing a shopping cart that had a few items already inside.

"Put the coat in here," Meg said once she reached him, gesturing to the cart.

Placing the coat into the cart, Castiel noticed the other things she had added: a pack of plain white socks and a few pairs of men's boxers. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she smiled sweetly back.

"I guessed your size," she said. "Hope you don't mind."

"Um, it's fine," he replied, giving a small cough into his hand. "So, what's next?"

"Oh, so you've finally decided to cooperate?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

He didn't justify the question with an answer and chose to give her an impatient look instead. Meg shook her head at him before taking hold of the cart and directing it elsewhere.

"You need shoes, shirts, and pants," she listed off. "Probably a few jackets too."

"All right," he said, following her.

They had just reached the shoes area of the store when a loud crackling noise interrupted the shoppers. Soon the sound of pouring rain against a roof filled the shop and the lights flickered. Castiel stiffened as he looked around the store.

"Ease up, Clarence," Meg said, resting a hand on his forearm. "It's not a ghost, just a storm."

Castiel nodded before looking at her hand. She moved away from him quickly and moved to walk down an aisle of men's shoes. He once again followed her lead and watched as she examined a pair of black dress shoes.

"What's your size?" she asked. "Well, your meatsuit's size."

Lifting one of his feet off of the ground, Castiel squinted at the faded number on the bottom. "10."

"Okay," Meg nodded, grabbing a box and handing it to him. "Try these on."

Castiel sat on one of the benches in the aisle and took off his old shoes before lacing up the new ones. Despite being slightly stiff, the new shoes were far more comfortable than the ones he had been wearing for so long.

"These work well," he nodded, taking them off and putting them back in their box.

Meg took the box from him and placed it in the cart. After picking out another pair of shoes, the pair made their way to the men's clothing section that they had been at not 10 minutes ago.

"Ready for round two?" Meg asked.

"I suppose," he said begrudgingly.

As Castiel stood awkwardly by the cart, Meg went through rack after rack of clothing, grabbing things at seemingly random. She would approach the cart only to toss new articles of clothing into it, not allowing him to give an input this time.

Briefly, Castiel wondered what they looked like to the people around them. Friends? Siblings? With each of them possessing human bodies, neither of the choices seemed too far-fetched. But underneath that they were still an angel and a demon. Complete opposites and sworn enemies.

"I just need you to try this stuff on and we can get out of here," Meg said, dumping more clothing into the cart.

"Do I really need all of that?" he asked warily.

"Yeah, you do," she said bluntly, steering him in the direction of the changing rooms. "Make sure all of this stuff fits and I'll go grab some duffle bags from the luggage area."

Castiel nodded in agreement and made his way to the changing area. He took a ticket from the bored attendee before slipping into one of the rooms, his arms full of clothes. Quickly, he checked all of the sizes and saw that they were all the same, making it so that he only had to try on one of each item.

While he was tugging on a pair of jeans the store intercom came on explaining to all of the customers that the store would be closing early due to the storm happening outside. Castiel finished getting dressed, leaving his old clothes and shoes in a pile in the dressing room. He exited the stall and saw Meg leaning against the stalled cart.

"You clean up nice," she commented, her eyes raking him up and down.

"Are we ready to go now?" he asked.

She nodded and Castiel looked into the shopping cart to see the duffle bags she had added along with a large amount of toiletry items.

"I suppose you're leaving soon," he said casually as they walked toward the crowded check-out.

"I've stayed here longer than I anticipated," she said. "It won't take long for Crowley to find out where I am and send some of his henchmen after me."

"When are you planning on leaving?" he asked.

"Maybe tomorrow morning," she said. "Help me put all of this stuff on the conveyor belt since it's all mostly yours."

He complied wordlessly, still watching her. She seemed troubled and a lot less like her usual confident self. It was like she knew that he wasn't going with her, that she would be by herself out there.

The solemn expression on her face was soon replaced by something else.

"I knew I forgot something," she said. "Belts! You need a belt. Keep loading this stuff on here, I'll be back in a second."

Without another word she scurried away from the check-out and into the accessories section. Castiel finished loading the items and watched as the cashier scanned barcode after barcode. The cashier soon came to one of the empty shoe boxes and the ripped open pack of socks.

"Oh, I already changed," Castiel said.

"Well, I need to scan whatever it is you already changed into," the cashier said.

After scanning everything that Castiel was wearing (including a more than awkward underwear scanning), Castiel tore off the tags on his clothes and looked at the total on the screen. Just as the cashier was asking for credit or debit, Meg came back with two belts and a purse in her hands.

"Is that for me too?" Castiel asked, eyeing the purse.

"Obviously not," Meg scoffed before tossing a wallet onto the conveyor belt as well. "That is though."

A total was once again rung up and Meg handed over the credit card easily. They ditched the cart at the door as they walked out of the store and into the storm, cradling the bags of purchases in their arms.

"I hate rain," Meg said as they walked down the street to their hotel.

"What?" Castiel asked, raising his voice slightly over the rain.

"I hate rain!" she shouted back at him.

"Why?"

"Because it's wet!"

A statement as simple as that shouldn't have been amusing, but for some reason it was. Castiel couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up his throat. Meg looked at him, alarmed, before shaking her head.

"Oh, Clarence, you're a wonder," she said.

They soon made their way back to the hotel, standing under the overhanging roof where cars were pulling under to check-in. Castiel's face still had the ghost of a smile present and he looked at Meg whose long, dark hair was dripping wet and sticking to her face.

She was beginning to get under his skin and he couldn't do anything about it.


	5. Blue

_015. Blue_

It was around 2 AM and he was taking a rare shower when she shoved all of her belongings into her duffle bag and walked out of the hotel room. As she made her way quickly done the hall, Meg rifled through her purse to make sure she had everything she needed.

Over the past two weeks she had accumulated cash, credit cards, IDs, and credentials for both her and Castiel. She wasn't sure if he had taken any of it, but it was still in the hotel room in a neat stack just for him.

She had everything she needed except for a car. Hitchhiking came across her mind once or twice, but she was starting to like the idea of getting a car to call her own. So, now she was setting off to do just that. Once she got a car she would head south and never look back. It was more than obvious that Castiel didn't want to stay with her, so she was leaving now to spare herself an awkward goodbye.

As soon as she arrived in the lobby, Meg was about to walk straight out of the building when the sounds of the hotel bar reached her. The bar was still open and it seemed that a party was taking place there. All of the attendees were around their early 20s and Meg pegged it as a 21st birthday party.

There was only one guy working the bar and he looked like he was going to fall asleep at any second. Meg was about to ignore the scene entirely when she noticed the glimmer of car keys next to a very drunk birthday boy (the blue birthday hat was a dead giveaway). This was all too easy.

Quickly, Meg checked herself in one of the hotel mirrors. Hair and makeup looked good, and there wasn't anything rumpled or out of place with her clothing. The indecently short shorts would probably work wonders as well. After stashing her duffle bag and purse next to a plant in the lobby, Meg made her way into the bar.

She approached the birthday boy with a sly smile plastered across her face. He looked up at her half-startled before taking her in and grinning in approval. Placing her hand on the table next to his car keys, Meg leaned toward and kissed him. His friends hooted in approval as she continued to kiss him, her fingers coiling around the key ring as she did.

"Happy birthday," Meg said when she pulled back, placing both hands in her pockets and depositing the keys there.

"Thanks, baby," he said, giving her a drunken smile. "Wanna stick around?"

"I'll pass," she declined.

Without another word Meg turned around and made her way back to the lobby. She was almost to the plant she had hidden her things next to when someone grabbed her forearm and turned her around. It was one of the boys from the party and from what she could tell he was also the designated driver.

"I think you have something of my friend's," he said.

Meg almost groaned with annoyance. She could kill every single one of those twerps without blinking an eye, but that would of course draw attention to herself. The last thing she needed was for the police to be on her ass.

"I don't think I do," she countered, taking her arm out of his grasp.

"Look, I saw you take his car keys," he pressed. "Just give them back now and I won't press charges."

Now she was close to laughing. This kid honestly thought that he was a threat to her. Yet the unwelcome idea of the police was throwing her off. No matter where she went her picture would be in the database and she wasn't going to switch meatsuits anytime soon. She had just bought a whole new wardrobe for this body after all.

"I don't have anything," she snapped. "Now go back to your party with all of your little friends."

This was the opposite response that he wanted apparently. A flash of anger came across his eyes as he pulled back his hand. He probably would have hit her if his arm hadn't been stopped.

"If she says she doesn't have anything, then she doesn't," Castiel said, his hand gripped tightly around the boy's wrist.

Meg took a few seconds to assess the situation. The party was officially over with everyone in the lobby watching the scene worriedly. Castiel was remotely calm as he gripped the boy's wrist. The boy looked absolutely terrified.

The one thing that really stood out was the duffle bag across Castiel's shoulder and the stuffed wallet he was holding. Meg put the pieces together and looked at him baffled, completely disregarding everyone else.

"Sorry, my mistake," the boy said, tugging his wrist free and making his way to his friends. "Let's go to our rooms, guys."

The group did just that as they made their way to the lobby elevators. Once they were gone, Meg took the keys out of her pocket and spun them around her index finger.

"Thanks for coming to my rescue, Clarence," she said.

"You're leaving?" he asked, ignoring the entire situation that had just happened.

"Yeah, and apparently you are too," Meg said, gesturing toward his bag and wallet.

"Yes, I'm not sure where though," he admitted.

Meg nodded before inclining her head toward the lobby doors. "Wanna walk out?"

"All right," Castiel complied.

After Meg retrieved her possessions from behind the plant, the pair made their way out of the hotel. Meg took the car remote on the key chain and clicked the unlock button. Not too far away a few lights blinked and a beeping noise was made.

"Oh, I took the right rich kid's keys," Meg said, making her way to a navy blue Porsche and leaning against it happily.

"That's not very discreet," Castiel observed.

"I'm failing to see your point, Clarence," she said, opening the trunk and putting her duffle into it.

Turning around, Meg looked up at him and exhaled slightly. So much for avoiding awkward goodbyes.

"So, this is it," she said.

"I suppose," he agreed.

They stood there for several moments, both of them feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the situation. This could very well be the last time she would see him, so Meg took a moment to appreciate those blue eyes. They had to belong to him and not his meatsuit. Two perfect pools of blue that she could either dive into or drown in.

"I guess I'll be going," Meg said, placing her hands on the trunk to close it when his voice reached her once more.

"It's been awhile since I've seen the ocean," Castiel said suddenly, conversationally.

It didn't take too long for her to figure out what he was saying.

"Oh really?" she inquired, stepping out of his way so that he could place his own duffle bag in the trunk.

"I'd like to see it again," he said, closing the trunk door once his duffle was safely inside.

"Well, I'm heading there now," Meg said, gesturing toward the car. "Wanna come along for the ride?"

His response was to open the passenger door and slide into the car.


	6. Where?

_078. Where?_

"Where are we going exactly?" Castiel asked as Meg drove well over the speed limit.

"The ocean," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I know, but where _exactly_ are we going?" he stressed.

"Um… Florida," Meg said.

Castiel looked at her from the passenger seat with a raised eyebrow. It was obvious that she had just made that up in her head. She really had no idea where they were going. It didn't exactly matter since they were both running away, but he always liked to have a plan.

They had only left the hotel a few hours ago and sun was just beginning to rise. Meg had taken control of the radio and he wasn't exactly sure what they were listening to. He didn't question it though, deciding to just block it out instead. It really was the least of his worries.

Coming along with Meg was a decision he had made on a whim and he was still trying to figure out if it was a good or a bad whim. He hated to admit that he actually enjoyed her company, but he also knew that he had things he had to own up to. Right now running away from all of his mistakes was the easy option, but it wasn't necessarily the right one.

"You know what I feel like?" she asked suddenly, interrupting his thoughts.

"What's that?" he inquired, looking at her as a grin formed on her face.

"A really big breakfast," she said before turning onto the nearest exit.

He didn't say anything to stop her. Neither of them needed to eat, but for some reason she always wanted to. If it was the human lunchtime, she would eat. If she was hungry in the middle of the night, she would eat. He didn't know why a demon would want to keep up such habits, but he didn't question her. She might tell him someday.

After a few minutes of driving around, Meg found a diner that was just opening for breakfast. She parked the car and opened the door before stepping out. When he was out of the car as well, he looked at her to notice that she was stretching. There wasn't any discomfort in his muscles, so he briefly wondered if there was some in hers.

"Come on, Clarence," she said, reaching into the car and grabbing her purse. "Let's go eat."

He nodded as he followed her into the diner. Since the closed sign had just flipped to open they were the first to arrive. There were only two waitresses working. One of them was making a pot of coffee while the other was frantically looking for something.

"Hey, did you see where I put my nametag?" she asked, looking around the cash register.

"Nope," the other waitress responded.

Meg smirked at the debacle before turning to Castiel. "Where do you wanna sit?"

"By the window," he responded.

"Figures," Meg snorted as she sat down at one of the booths.

"What does?" he asked, sitting across from her.

She was about to answer when the waitress who hadn't been searching for her nametag approached them with two menus.

"Take as long as you like ordering, and please take a look at our specials on the board," she said in a bored tone, placing the menus on the table and giving a lackluster point toward the chalkboard behind her.

"Thanks," Meg said, giving her an overenthusiastic smile.

The waitress rolled her eyes and walked back toward the counter to continue with her coffee making. Meg began to read the menu while Castiel looked outside. They were still in Kansas and in a very small town. The streets weren't busy at all and he had a hunch that it wasn't because of the early hour. It was all very uneventful in this town and he actually found himself liking the peace.

"This is why I knew you'd like the window," Meg said, once again interrupting his thoughts.

"Why's that?" he asked, turning to face her.

"Because in that hotel room you were always looking out of the window," she said. "It's like you always just want to be anywhere but here."

He was about to ask her what she meant when the waitress came back to their table. She was holding a coffee pot and a hand was firmly placed on her hip.

"Have you decided?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'll have some of that coffee and five more minutes," Meg said, once again giving a fake smile to the waitress.

The waitress poured coffee into the mug in front of Meg before turning to Castiel. As soon as her eyes landed on him the glare disappeared from her face and was replaced by a sultry smile.

"Have you decided what you want yet?" she asked, batting her eyelashes excessively.

"I won't be having anything, thank you," Castiel said, handing her the menu back.

"Well, if you see something that catches your eye, don't hesitate to ask," she said before walking back to the counter, her hips swaying back and forth.

Castiel was about to look out of the window again when he glanced at Meg. She was giving him a sly smile and shaking her head from side-to-side.

"Oh, Clarence your head has been spending too much time in the clouds," she half-laughed.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I think our waitress wants you to order something off the menu," Meg said.

He couldn't even ask for a clarification when the bell above the door chimed and a couple walked in. They were discussing something animatedly amongst themselves. Neither Castiel nor Meg could understand what they were talking about until they sat in the booth behind them.

"I'm telling you, something is in our house," the man said, leaning across the table.

"You're imagining things," the woman said, shaking her head. "The lights flickered, it gets cold, and there are some noises, so what? That doesn't mean anything. We bought an old house; these things are bound to happen."

Castiel didn't have time to stop Meg as she stood up and walked over to the couple. So, he stood up with her and joined her in front of the couple.

"So, where do you guys live exactly?" Meg asked, excitement flashing across her eyes.


	7. Fire

_052. Fire_

After talking with the couple at the diner, Meg had come to the conclusion that they had an angry spirit haunting them. It was an easy enough case and Meg was growing tired of driving. Burning up a stupid little spirit was just what she needed for entertainment.

As soon as she arrived at the house she bounded up the porch steps and walked to the front door of the standard two-story house. She peered through the window and saw nothing out of the ordinary, but she knew that didn't mean anything. Looking down, she noticed that she was standing on the doormat and that a flower pot was on each side of the door. She lifted up the one on the right and took the spare key from under it.

Inserting the key into the lock, Meg looked over her shoulder to see Castiel standing at the foot of the stairs. His hands were in the pockets of his new overcoat and he was looking away from the house. He had been less than excited about the prospect of a little ghost hunting. It wasn't like they were doing anything immoral, Meg had successfully convinced the couple that they were capable of taking care of the problem. She hadn't mentioned what their problem was exactly, but they had trusted them enough to tell them where the spare key was.

Still, Castiel stood at the bottom of the steps, avoiding her gaze at all costs. She was getting a little aggravated with him. Everything had been fine between them until this was brought up.

"Are you coming, Clarence?" she asked, walking toward the top of the porch steps.

He looked up at her with his piercing blue eyes and she felt a strange sense of unbearable heat come over her. It didn't seem like he was angry, just a little peeved.

"I'll wait out here," he said in response before ignoring her again.

Meg sighed and shook her head as she headed back toward the door. "Suit yourself."

She let herself inside the house and gave it a good onceover. Since the couple had just moved in there were boxes everywhere still holding their possessions. It smelled like fresh paint and new carpet, a combination that Meg didn't like. It smelled like the suburbs, like settling down, like humans.

It didn't take long for Meg to do a search of the first floor, so she brought her search up to the second floor. There were even more boxes upstairs, but the smell of paint and carpet had become fainter. In fact the smell had been replaced.

Meg inhaled deeply and was able to identify the smells of cologne and tobacco. This combination seemed awfully strange for a house that was occupied by a newlywed couple. Apparently this ghost was a little old-fashioned.

After checking all of the bathrooms and bedrooms, Meg made her way to a room at the end of the hall. She placed her hand on the doorknob and felt that it was unnaturally cold. Bingo.

Meg turned the knob and entered the room. The room was empty, but she could see a puff of her own breath in front of her. Her meatsuit was obviously getting a little chilly. She ignored this though and headed into the center of the room. Before she could take another step the door shut behind her and she heard the click of a lock. She definitely wasn't alone.

The quiet in the room was soon replaced by the sounds of an old jazz record and Meg looked under the window to see an old, dusty record player. Jazz, smoking, fancy cologne? This ghost definitely had a type of style that she could respect.

At least she thought she could respect it. A hiss was heard from the record player and a fog was starting to come out of its horn. The smell of the fog was something that Meg picked up on instantly. It was gas.

Deciding that it was best to leave, Meg turned around toward the door to see an overweight man standing there. He was battered and pale, wearing a waist coat and pinstriped pants. A cigar was poking out between his lips and a lighter was in one of his hands.

Meg acted on instinct, rushing forward and making a swipe for the lighter. The ghost disappeared quickly though and repositioned himself within the room. Meg spun around and saw him crouching down next to the record player. He was holding the lighter next to the horn and gave her a wide smile, his finger about to flick it on.

He never got the chance to though. Castiel appeared out of nowhere, taking the lighter from the ghost, and then placing a hand on the ghost's head. Before he could continue the ghost disappeared once more and the door to the room swung back open. Castiel let out a sigh before pocketing the lighter and looking towards her.

"That didn't go very well," he stated.

"Thanks for that, Captain Obvious," Meg said, crossing her arms across her chest.

Castiel tilted his head to the side and looked at her with a bit of confusion. "Thanks for stopping the ghost or for stating the obvious?"

"It doesn't matter, both," Meg groaned as she turned around and headed toward the door. "Let's get back on the road."

"We can't leave, the ghost is still haunting this house," Castiel said, following her into the hallway.

"Ugh, you sound like a Winchester," Meg said, stopping and leaning against the wall.

"I thought you wanted to hunt it," he said. "Why stop now?"

"I'm bored," she shrugged.

Meg turned her head to look at him and was startled by how close he was to her. He was squinting slightly, his was head to the side, and he was completely ignoring the rules of personal space. She flinched away from him, turning her head to look away.

Whenever he did this it always made her insides feel like they were on fire. He could see right through her and sometimes she thought that he would see too much. Maybe he would see something that he didn't like and decide to burn her alive. He had never had any trouble throwing her into the fire before. Literally.

"No, you're not," he said finally. "You want to see how this plays out."

"Oh and how do you know that?" she scoffed.

"Because I know you," he responded.

His voice was filled with sincerity and Meg had to look at him quickly to make sure he was being serious. Then she reminded herself that he was always serious.

"You don't know the first thing about me," she said before turning away from him and walking down the hallway, willing the flames inside of her to stop burning.


	8. Triangles

_042. Triangles_

"So, it's not safe to come back yet?" the woman said over the phone.

"No, not yet," Meg said bluntly. "Get a hotel room, come around in the morning when it will be safe."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone and Meg wondered if the woman was going to come anyway with her husband in tow. She didn't though, allowing Meg and Castiel to take care of the problem. Meg hung up the phone and looked at Castiel who was reading old newspapers in the living room.

It was the only room that was close to being finished, so they had decided to do research in there. Earlier they had headed out to the library to search through some old archives. It didn't take long for the librarian to point out some old newspapers dating back to the mid-40s. And by some she meant thousands. Meg had of course turned her nose up at the job and had appointed herself on ghost lookout.

She had just finished her third round of the house when she noticed that Castiel was more than halfway through the newspapers. Meg watched him for a few moments to see how he could be working so quickly. He was sitting on the new carpet with three newspapers on the coffee table, formatted into a triangle. His eyes darted up, down, and then across before he gave a gentle turn of his hand to make all of the newspapers flip a page.

He was in the zone. She had never seen someone so fiercely focused on anything before. Castiel had even taken off his overcoat and the jacket he had worn over his shirt. He was down to a t-shirt and jeans, making the entire image even stranger.

Her sneaky surveying apparently was so sneaky though since he pried his eyes from the newspapers to look up at her.

"Did you find something?" he asked.

"No, nothing," she said hurriedly, pretending like she hadn't been staring at him. "You?"

"There isn't much to go on," he admitted, leaning back slightly and taking in his progress. "Can you give me a more exact description of the ghost?"

"You've seen it too," Meg groaned.

Before he could get another word out, Meg sat down next to him and leaned toward the coffee table. The newspapers were old and moldy which resulted in a less than pleasant smell. They were all currently on pages about headline stories that had taken place those particular days.

"He was shorter than you," she started, fingering an edge of a moldy page. "Bald, fat, wearing old-fashioned mismatched clothes. He was smoking a cigar, well he would have been if he had been able to light it."

She finished her description off with a shrug before looking at him. He had been watching her intently and his attention never seemed to falter. It was strange having so much honest attention from a man. Usually men were either trying to get into her pants or kill her.

"And you said that you heard music?" he questioned.

"Yeah, jazz," Meg said.

Castiel nodded before taking a stack of newspapers from the floor next to him and leafing through them. Meg watched him as he did so, leaning ever so slightly against him to get a better look. Slowly, Meg began to press her bare thigh against his jean clad one. He stiffened and Meg quickly moved her leg away.

Eventually he found what he had been looking for. He placed the newspaper on the coffee table and opened it up to a two-page spread.

"That's him," she said, pointing toward a picture of the man whose spirit was haunting the house. "Who is he?"

"According to this he was an owner of a jazz club not too far from here," Castiel explained. "He lived in this house with his wife and two daughters. After a few months of owning the club he killed his wife and daughters and then himself."

"That's sick," she said, scrunching up her face in distaste.

Castiel look at her quickly, surprise etched across his features. "Do you really think that?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I may have killed my fair share of humans and demons, but never my family. I may be twisted, but I'm not _that _bad."

It looked like he was about to question these words when his breath became visible and Meg had goose bumps prickling up her arms. Their eyes met in mutual realization when soft jazz music started to play. The smells of cologne and tobacco were starting to waft from the kitchen.

"I think we have a visitor," Meg whispered, nodding toward the kitchen.

"That does seem to be the case," Castiel agreed.

They both stood up and heading quietly toward the kitchen. Inside was the ghost pouring himself a drink and looking around with a confused expression. On the counter was a box labeled "SEASONINGS" and Meg nodded toward it as she headed toward another box that said "PANS".

Castiel was rifling through the seasonings box without a sound while Meg was having trouble telling if anything was iron or not. She finally found an odd triangle-shaped pan that was heavier than the rest. Meg wasn't an iron expert so she was unsure if it was made out of the desired material, but she took her chances.

Quickly, Meg grabbed the handle of the pan and pulled it free from the box. Loud clattering noises filled the kitchen as the ghost turned around quickly. Meg swung and hit the ghost right through the head resulting in it giving an anguished scream. She tried to get another hit in but the ghost had already disappeared.

Unfortunately Meg wasn't given a second to relax because a wave of salt hit her in the face and chest. It felt like acid was seeping into her skin and she let out a shriek, the pan falling from her hands. She attempted to open her eyes, but this only resulted in salt making its way in there as well.

Then water hit her. The salt was being washed away and she slowly opened her eyes. Castiel was standing in front of her, spraying her down with the sink hose. Once all of the salt was gone she was left standing in the middle of the kitchen, soaking wet with angry red marks over her face and chest.

"You're not supposed to throw the salt at me," she said finally, shooting him a death glare.

"My apologies," he replied even though he didn't look that apologetic.

"You better make sure I don't get my hands on any holy oil, Clarence," she warned, shaking her finger at him slightly.

He gave a small chuckle before walking toward her. Castiel stopped within inches of her and for one crazy second she thought that he was going to put the moves on her. Instead he reached into a box on the counter next to her and took out a dishtowel.

"I suggest we find out where this man is buried and end this," he said, handing her the dishtowel.

She snatched it from his hands and started to pat herself dry, the burns on her skin already almost healed.

"Yeah, let's get this damn thing over with."


	9. Fall

_064. Fall_

The local cemetery was actually kind of nice. All of the graves were clean and had flowers surrounding them. The grounds were kept in nice condition except for the fact that there were leaves everywhere. It was fall so the trees were beginning to turn bare, resulting in a huge amount of crunchy, golden leaves.

Usually the sound of crunching leaves wasn't that bad, but in a cemetery in the dead of night it was a little nerve-wracking. It's not like anyone could hear them since there was no one around, but both Meg and Castiel felt the need to look over their shoulders ever few minutes to make sure that it was just the two of them.

Even if they were being followed it wouldn't be a problem. All Castiel would have to do was put a hand on whoever the intruder would be and they would be out cold instantly. Sometimes Meg wondered why she hadn't thought of teaming up with an angel before.

"He was buried around the time that this cemetery opened," Castiel informed, looking at the old obituary in his hand. "So, he should be toward the front."

"Then let's search," Meg said, flipping on her flashlight and pointing it toward a random headstone.

After their brief run-in with the ghost, Meg and Castiel had found the man's obituary which conveniently said where the man was buried. Before leaving they had snooped around some of the boxes in the couple's garage to find a couple of shovels and flashlights.

They weren't planning on giving them back either. Just because the Winchesters didn't see any profit in this business didn't mean that Meg didn't. She wasn't going to become an official hunter and start hunting herself anytime soon, but she had to admit that it was kind of relaxing. Killing things that were weaker than her and then getting a reward for it was definitely her style.

Besides, traveling with Castiel wasn't too bad. Granted this was the only case they had worked with each other before and they hadn't even been together for a month, but she liked it. She would never admit that out loud, especially when he definitely didn't reciprocate those feelings.

"Found it," Castiel announced, interrupting her thoughts.

Meg turned in his direction and saw him standing in front of a grave. She made her way toward him and shone her flashlight down on the grave as well. Unlike the other graves it was poorly kept and the tombstone was cracked. The light from her flashlight fell upon the grave and she nodded, this was him.

"So, I'll hold the light and you dig?" Meg suggested, giving him a sly smile.

Castiel turned his head slowly to face her and gave a small sigh. He placed his own flashlight on the ground and positioned the head of his shovel into the dirt. Placing his foot on the shovel, he stomped down and managed to dig up a huge amount of earth.

"Damn, Clarence," Meg said, nodding in approval. "We'll be out of here in ten minutes at the rate you're going."

He ignored her and Meg took that as a cue to stop talking and hold the light up higher for him. Castiel seemed completely at ease as he shoveled chunks of dirt and tossed them to the side. He completely submerged himself into whatever he was doing. First the newspapers, now this, he was good at everything.

Ten minutes was apparently an overstatement. He was done within five, the sound of him cracking through the wood of the casket surprising her slightly. Before Meg could even peek into the hole to see his work, he was standing beside her with a container of salt in his hands.

"You should move away," he warned. "I don't want this getting on you."

Meg took his advice and stepped out of his way as he salted the bones. When he was done he placed his hand over the grave and the grave burst into flames instantly. Castiel watched it for a few moments before turning back to her with a solemn expression.

"It's done," he said. "We should continue driving."

Without another word Castiel grabbed his supplies before heading back to the car. Meg stood there dumbfounded for a moment before walking quickly after him.

"Clarence!" she called after him as he briskly walked toward the car. "Hey, wait a second!"

He stopped and turned around to face her. His face was completely changed. Instead of that confused expression or intent look, his face looked completely blank. No emotions were reading on him whatsoever and for some reason that scared her.

"What's up?" she asked, trying to keep her voice casual so it seemed that she didn't really care.

"I'm not used to doing this," he said, gesturing not only to the cemetery but to her as well. "I don't hunt things that hurt people. I'm an angel and I just dug up a grave."

Apparently it was just now starting to sink in for him. He was finally realizing that he had fallen a lot farther than most angels had. Actually she could only think of one angel who had fallen farther.

But he wasn't like Lucifer. He wasn't cold or cunning or an annoying brat (of course she would never admit that she thought that way). Castiel was just very confused and broken and ashamed. Meg truly believed that out of everything he was more ashamed than anything else. He had betrayed the trust of his closest friends and had hurt a lot of people. Now he was road tripping with her and running away from all of his problems.

"Then either get used to it or own up to what you did," she said finally.

He looked at her with clear surprise and she looked boldly back at him. Castiel didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. Meg already knew that he was going to join her back in the car and they would be on their way to their next destination.

She knew that he would seek out forgiveness someday, but right now he still needed time to hide.


	10. Shade

_075. Shade_

"Where are we now?" Castiel asked, leaning against the side of the car and looking at the map that Meg had in front of her.

"Still in Kansas," Meg groaned as she pointed toward the bottom portion of the state.

They had been on the road for a few days, but it wasn't exactly showing in their progress. Meg stopped a few times a day and they would always stop for hours. Currently they were taking one of their travel breaks at a run-down rest stop. Missouri was just a few hours away and Meg knew that if she drove fast enough that they could make it there before nightfall.

She didn't feel like driving anymore though. Castiel had no clue how to drive a car, making her their only driver. More than once Castiel had volunteered just to teleport (not the word he used, but she refused to think of it as "flying") them to Florida, but Meg had fiercely declined. They were both running away and she wanted to do it the rebellious way. It was always nice to know that the teleporting option was still available though.

"We should keep moving then," Castiel said.

"Or we could get a hotel for the night and drive in the morning," Meg suggested.

"What would that accomplish?" he asked, looking down at her with a perked eyebrow. "We've made barely any progress so far. As this rate we won't make it to Florida for months."

"Well, maybe I like it this way," Meg shrugged, walking toward a picnic table under a tree and sitting down. "It's not like we're rushing. We're just leisurely travelers."

Castiel looked at her, not moving from his spot next to the car. The sun was beating down on him and he briefly thought about why it was so warm in October. Worrying about the weather wasn't exactly something worth thinking about though.

Their lack of progress was worrying. They were still in the same state where his face was plastered everywhere. Luckily, no one had recognized him, but he knew it was only a matter of time. They needed to get as far away from Kansas as possible and it seemed like Meg wanted the exact opposite of that.

"We need to start making some significant progress, and soon," he said, deciding to sit across from her at the picnic table.

Meg leaned across the table and gave him a grin, something that he had become quite used to.

"Clarence, are you still worried about someone recognizing you?" she asked.

"Possibly," he admitted.

"Oh, please," she scoffed. "Even if someone does, what are they going to do? Arrest an angel? There's no way they could possibly hold you."

"I just don't want to be hunted, surely you understand that," he pressed.

"Of course I understand not wanting to be hunted," Meg said. "I'm being hunted right now."

Castiel didn't say anything to that and instead brought his attention to a small family exiting a car. They all started to stretch before making their way toward the information building. Meg followed his line of vision and sighed, shaking her head.

"No one is going to recognize you," she assured, surprised by the soft tone her voice had suddenly taken. "Besides, the shading on the police sketch of you is just awful."

To her surprise he gave a light chuckle before standing up and walking out from under the shade of the tree. Meg watched him walk back to the car, not even bothering getting up to follow him.

"I'm not leaving," she said. "My meatsuit is stiff from driving all day. Give me an hour and I'll be good to go."

"We don't exactly have an hour," Castiel said.

Meg looked at him before groaning, grabbing her purse that she had laid down on the table, and standing. "Okay, five minutes. I want to stretch my legs again before getting back in that car."

"Suit yourself," Castiel shrugged before opening the passenger side door and getting in the car.

Turning around, Meg started to walk toward the information building. It was a standard rest stop with picnic benches and plenty of vending machines. One vending machine filled with candy bars caught her eye in fact, and she made her way over. Digging around in her purse, Meg managed to find a few quarters before dropping them in and making her selection.

She was in the process of peeling back the wrapper when she saw Castiel getting out of the car. It was probably getting hot in there so she didn't exactly blame him. At first she had been overjoyed by acquiring a sports car, but it wasn't the best thing to travel in. She should have taken something more practical but she had been drawn in by the leather seats and new car smell.

Meg continued to watch Castiel as he sat back down at the picnic table, under the shade once again. He looked up and caught her eye, nodding as he did so. She gave a wave in return and wondered why he was sticking with her. Her company wasn't exactly the best and she knew that he was just dying to go back to his buddies.

He had rarely mentioned the Winchesters over the past few weeks and she was tired of having to make up explanations for her own entertainment. It was about time that she stopped wondering and got some answers.

After finishing her candy bar, Meg threw the wrapper away and headed toward the picnic table. She didn't know what she was going to say when she got to him, she just knew that she wanted answers in any way, shape, or form that she could get.

"So, why have you been sticking around?" she asked when she reached him. "You can still spread your wings and fly, so why stay with me? Why not go back to Tweedledee and Tweedledum? What did you do that was so bad? And don't give me the generic summary that you gave me before."

All of these questions had come out as a long string and Meg could see Castiel trying to work through all of them. When he did his face didn't show sadness or confusion or shame. Those mild emotions didn't even come close to describing what his face was showing. He was angry, and that made Meg regret her questions immediately.

"I have told you what you need to know," he said, standing up and towering over her. "You don't need to know anything else and I'm not going to tell you anything else. Understand?"

She couldn't just leave it at that though. Curiosity was a bad thing and it was biting away at her. "Just tell me what you did. Other than playing God, what did you do to them?"

"You wouldn't understand," he said sharply.

"Try me," she prompted. "I've done some pretty terrible things myself."

"Just drop it!" Castiel growled as he grabbed her shoulders roughly.

Meg didn't have a second to think as he pressed her back against the tree. His hands move from her shoulders to her face. There was nothing gentle or tender about what he was doing. She knew that he would just have to summon a little bit of angel power and he could smite her on the spot. Leaving her meatsuit crossed her mind, but for some reason she didn't want to. She was already running and she didn't want to have to run from him too.

"I'm just saying that maybe I can relate," Meg said, braving a response.

"Listen, demon, I'm not sure where you got the idea that you were in charge, but you're not," he threatened, his face ridiculously close to hers. "I am older than you, stronger than you, and much more capable. So don't think for a second that you can pry into my business. We are not equals, I don't trust you. Don't mistake whatever it is we're doing for camaraderie."

With that final sentence he stepped away from her and made his way back to the car. It was only then that she realized that she was shaking.


	11. Air

_054. Air_

They had decided to drive straight to Missouri. Well, it wasn't exactly a mutual decision. After their little debacle at the rest stop, a word hadn't been spoken between them. Despite this Meg knew that going to a hotel for the night would not end well for her.

So, she was driving to Missouri at about 2 o'clock in the morning. Staring straight ahead, Meg didn't even chance looking at Castiel. She knew that he was still aggravated with her. It was strange seeing him angry, but also a little terrifying. She had always known that he was powerful, but scaring her was something she didn't think was possible. Backed up against that tree with him right in her face had actually scared her. He could have killed her in an instant, and she was still trying to figure out why he hadn't.

"We can stop for the night," Castiel said suddenly.

"Any specific place in mind?" Meg asked.

"No," he said shortly.

Nothing was said after that and it almost felt like they hadn't talked at all. The air hadn't shifted; it was still just as steady as before.

Meg turned onto the nearest exit and drove down the ramp. After driving into town she scoped out the area for a decent hotel. Eventually she found a standard Comfort Inn and drove into the parking lot. As soon as she parked the car Castiel was opening the door and stepping out. He opened the trunk and took out both of their duffle bags. Meg had just opened her own door when he approached her and shoved her duffle bag into her arms.

"I'll get a room," he said.

She was still sitting in the front seat with the duffle bag in her arms as she watched him walk briskly toward the front doors. After sitting there for a few more seconds, Meg grabbed her purse and got out of the car, locking it in the process. When she entered the hotel she saw Castiel talking to the girl at the front desk. Meg walked over casually and instantly noticed that the woman was flirting with him.

"So, one room?" she asked, typing away at her computer. "All by yourself?"

Castiel was about to respond when Meg appeared, looping one of arms around one of his.

"Have you gotten the room yet, _sweetie_?" Meg asked, batting her eyelashes at Castiel.

He looked down at her with a confused expression when the girl shoved two keycards at him. "Here. Enjoy your stay."

"Thank you," Meg said, giving her a false smile before gripping Castiel's arm tighter and dragging him toward the elevator.

Meg jabbed the up button with her free hand. She looked back at the girl at the front desk who was watching them bitterly.

"Looks like someone wanted a piece of you, Clarence," Meg said, looking up at Castiel. "Can't say I blame her."

He didn't respond. Apparently he was still mad at her.

The elevator arrived and they both entered. Castiel pressed the button for the fourth floor and pulled his arm away from her as soon as the doors closed. The ride up was awkward to say the least. It was a relief that they were there at such a deserted time, making the elevator ride quite short since it didn't have to stop.

They reached the room and Meg stood aside as Castiel opened the door using the keycard. He walked in first and switched on the light. The room was nice, looking almost identical to the other hotel rooms they had occupied. Only the comforter on the bed and the wallpaper appeared to be different.

Castiel sat down on the bed and placed his duffle bag on the floor, shrugging off his overcoat as well. He appeared to be only slightly at ease since his eyes would dart to her every few seconds.

"Should we… talk about what happened?" Meg proposed after several long minutes of silence.

"What happened?" he asked, attempting to act confused.

"You yelling at me at the rest stop," Meg clarified.

It looked like he was about to say something, but words didn't come out of his mouth. Blood did. Meg watched in slight alarm as he placed his hand over his mouth and more blood started to spill out.

She had no idea what to do. Did angels usually spew blood everywhere? She made her way toward him, placing her hands on his shoulders. More and more blood was coming, splattering onto his pants and shirt.

"What's going on?" Meg asked even though she was sure he couldn't answer her.

He tried to speak, but all that came out was more blood and a harsh sounding cough. This wasn't going to kill him, only a few things could kill an angel. There was no sword or incantation involved with this. Whatever was happening was a spell all by its own.

Then she knew exactly what to do. As Castiel continued to cough up blood, Meg went straight to his duffle bag and started to rifle through it. There was nothing out of the ordinary though. She looked around the room frantically before seeing the overcoat he had discarded on the bed. Meg stood up and reached into the pockets of the coat, quickly finding what she was looking for.

She didn't have time to think about how the hex bag had gotten in there though. Shoving her hand into her pocket, Meg grasped her lighter and pulled it out, flicking it on.

Seconds away from burning the bag, Meg met Castiel's eyes. He was obviously in great pain, but there was something else there. Was it relief? She didn't know.

She held the hex bag to the lighter and it burned bright blue. Castiel had stopped coughing up blood and was sitting with his hands on his knees, his head bent, and breathing in air. His eyes were snapped shut and he looked exhausted. Just because a hex bag couldn't kill him didn't mean that he wasn't affected by it.

Meg sat down next to him on the bed, moving her hands up to the buttons of his shirt. She unbuttoned them one by one before pushing the stained piece of clothing off of his shoulders.

"You okay, Clarence?" she asked, wadding up the ruined shirt.

"Fine," he responded, his voice sounding more gruff than usual. "I think I'll take a shower."

"Good idea," Meg said, watching as he stood up.

He took his duffle bag from the floor and headed toward the bathroom. Pausing in front of the door, he looked at her.

"Thank you," he said.

It was said so softly that she thought that the air around her was whispering to her. But his lips had moved and there was sincerity in his eyes.

As soon as he closed the bathroom door Meg looked down at the hex bag remains before sighing.

"I think we have a witch on our hands!" she shouted at him through the bathroom door.


	12. Enemies

_022. Enemies_

"So, do any witches hate you?" Meg questioned.

"Not that I'm aware of," Castiel said. "I don't think any of them know of me. If they do know of me then they probably think that I'm dead."

"But you're not," Meg pointed out. "Maybe the witch who did this was trying to kill you because she thought you were better off dead."

"That doesn't make any sense," Castiel said, shaking his head. "If a witch is trying to kill me with knowledge of what I am, she wouldn't use a hex bag. Hex bags can only cause an angel harm or irritation, it can't kill one."

"Then the witch wanted to annoy you or she just didn't know what you are," Meg said slowly, trying to make sense of it all. "But if she didn't know what you are then what could you have done to tick her off enough to want her to kill you?"

"Perhaps she had me mistaken with someone else?"

"No, to make a hex bag hurt she needed a piece of your clothing," Meg said. "She would have to get close to you to get that and she would know if she was making a mistake if she saw you."

It was the day after they had found the hex bag and they weren't getting any closer to the truth. It made no sense as to why someone was after Castiel. They had stayed up all night discussing theories, but they weren't closer to the truth at all.

Currently, Castiel was sitting at the foot of the bed with a hand running through his hair in frustration while Meg paced in front of them. Aside from Meg, everyone who had ever met Castiel thought that he was dead. There was literally no one on the planet who wanted to harm him, especially a witch.

Then an idea hit Meg.

"Since you don't have any enemies," Meg started. "Other than the ones who think that you're dead, maybe your meatsuit does. What do you know about him?"

"His name is James Novak," Castiel informed. "He's from Pontiac, Illinois. He has a wife and a daughter, goes to church every Sunday, and his only fault is a speeding ticket."

"Okay," Meg said slowly, nodding as she took in this new information. "Maybe his wife or a friend of his wife saw you with me. This body is younger than yours and I'm not exactly dressing in a conservative way. They might think that you left your wife for me."

"No, Amelia, his wife, probably told all of her relatives that he's dead," Castiel said. "There was an incident a while ago and… it's not of importance now. Besides why would they target him instead of you?"

Meg joined him on the bed, thinking harder than she had in a while. If someone was targeting their meatsuits instead of them then they were in an entirely different mess of trouble.

"What about your vessel?" Castiel asked. "Does she have any enemies?"

"Probably not," Meg scoffed. "She's just a girl trying to be an actress. Well, she _was _trying to be an actress, she's dead now."

Castiel gave a short nod. Meg watched as he sat there, thinking intently, and she couldn't help but give a little grin. A girl in her late twenties, struggling to become an actress, and doing anything to get a job traveling with a man in his thirties who was religious with a family. She snorted; it was almost as screwed up as an angel and a demon working together.

"So, someone must be targeting me now," he said in conclusion. "I don't know who it could be though. I've barely talked to anyone other than you these past few weeks."

"Then I guess we'll just have to go out and see if anyone attacks you with some kind of spell," Meg said, grabbing her jacket and shrugging it on. "Let's go."

"You don't ever think, do you?" he asked incredulously. "Do you even realize how pointless it would be to deal with this? A witch stupid enough to use a hex bag on an angel isn't worth our time. Why do you want to find her?"

Meg couldn't just openly admit everything to him. She couldn't admit that watching him cough up a fountain of blood had scared her. She couldn't admit that she didn't want to see him hurting again.

They were sworn enemies just because of their species. Angels and demons were supposed to kill each other, not work with each other. Looking out for one another was a ludicrous idea, and caring was an entirely different thing.

So, instead of admitting what she was really feeling, Meg did what she did best. She lied.

"Because it'll be fun," she said. "We can string this witch along, make her think that she's in charge. Then, when she least expects it, we'll burn her to a crisp."

Castiel looked at her warily before shaking his head. "Leaving this alone will be the best option. If it starts to get out of hand, then we'll do something about it."

Meg watched as he stood up and started to pack up his belongings. He was ready to hit the road again and Meg was ready for a hunt. She was more than ready to punch this little witch in the face for messing with her… partner. And he wasn't even angry.

"Seriously?" she asked, walking toward him and getting in the way of his packing. "You're not even a little bit curious? Angry? Someone is messing with you and you don't even care? Do you think you deserve to be punished or something?"

He didn't even have to say anything for her suspicions to be confirmed. The look on his face made it obvious that he wanted to be punished. Apparently what he had done had been so bad that he was willing to let a lowlife witch punish him for it.

"Look, Castiel," she said, his real name feeling foreign on her tongue. "If you want to be punished, if you want to be hurt for whatever you did, just ask me to do it. Don't let some witch hurt you because you hate yourself right now. I'll hurt you."

"Then do it," he said, his voice coming out a lot harsher than usual.

They stood there for a few moments, just looking at each other. Meg's mouth was open and she was trying to find out what to say in response to _that_. She couldn't think of anything though.

Castiel reached around her and grabbed his duffle bag before placing the strap on his shoulder.

"I'll be in the car," he said before walking out.


	13. And

_083. And_

After leaving the hotel they continued to drive for a few more hours. Barely any progress had been made when Castiel told her to stop the car. Usually Meg was the one to stop since Castiel always wanted to put as much distance behind them as possible.

Meg didn't complain about the stopping, but she did see a problem with his request. They were on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere and he wanted them to stop. Stopping at the side of the road wouldn't exactly be a problem, but it lacked purpose. She didn't argue though, turning the steering wheel and parking on the shoulder of the road.

She didn't bother putting the car into park, choosing to turn off the ignition instead. They sat in an awkward silence for a few moments when Castiel cleared his throat to talk.

"What you said back at the hotel," he started, and it was obvious that the words weren't coming easily to him.

There wasn't a single doubt in Meg's mind as to what he was referring to. It had nothing to do with the witch or the hex bag. It had everything to do with her offering to hurt him. She wanted nothing more than for him to drop the subject entirely. Forgetting it was also an appealing offer.

"I offered to hurt you," she said slowly, helping him along.

"Right," he nodded.

She waited patiently for him to elaborate, but he didn't. Meg didn't want him to elaborate. The thought of hurting him felt terrible and uncomfortable and strange and _tempting_. Damn, it was tempting.

Being a torturer in hell was her job. She was a damn good torturer too. Torturing those poor little souls as they cried out helplessly was the best feeling. She loved the power and the satisfaction. So, the idea of torturing an angel was almost mouthwatering.

But this was Clarence. Over the weeks that she had spent with him she had actually gotten to know him. Torturing an angel would be fun, but not Clarence. Especially when he seemed so willing to let her do it.

"Do you want me to?" she asked after a rather pregnant pause. "Do you want me to torture you?"

This was obviously something that he didn't want to think about. Castiel shifted awkwardly in the passenger seat and tried to meet her eyes. He was trying to act calm and uncaring as usual. It wasn't working though. His façade was cracking and she was beginning to really see what he was feeling.

Desperation and pain and guilt and… was he pleading? Behind that carefully placed mask he was actually _pleading_. Damn. He really had screwed up, hadn't he?

"I'll do it," Meg said with a firm nod. "On one condition."

"And what's that?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly.

"You have to tell me what happened," she said. "I know the general idea, but none of it is bad enough to want to turn all masochistic. So, just tell me. Deal?"

He didn't even think about it. "Deal."

Meg was a bit taken aback by his readiness, but quickly shook it off. She turned in her seat slightly so that she could face him better.

"I would tell you to relax, but that probably won't do you any good," she half-joked. "Ready?"

He gave a stiff nod to show that he was and Meg brought her hand up. She gave an uncertain pause as she took him in. Sitting next to her with his head against the headrest and his eyes shut tightly, she had never seen anything so broken. Seeing an angel, a creature who could kill her in an instant, so hopeless was a bit unnerving.

This wasn't the time for sympathy though. Without giving it another thought, Meg squeezed her hand into a fist and imagined his insides twisting painfully.

Pain etched across Castiel's face as he leaned forward violently, clutching onto the dashboard. An unsettling feeling started to churn inside of her, but she pressed on. Once again Meg opened and closed a fist as she watched him writhe on the seat.

This was painful to watch. It was on the verge of disgusting even. She hadn't even agreed to a stopping place. When was it going to be enough?

Her hand opened and closed and he continued to move jerkily in his seat. Next she gave her hand a sharp turn and his face squeezed tighter and tighter together.

"I'm sorr-," he choked out.

Meg automatically stopped. She placed her hand against her leg and kept her eyes on Castiel as he tried to catch his breath. Something about him talking during it didn't seem to be a part of the deal. Especially when he was apologizing to whomever he had screwed over.

A strange silence overcame them next. Castiel sat panting next to her as she looked straight ahead.

"Never ask me to do that again," she said.

He was probably about to respond when strangled coughing sounds filled the car once again. For a second she thought that he was stupid enough to hurt himself this time. All she had to do was to look over at him to see that he was a victim once more.

The familiar image of him coughing up blood greeted her and Meg's stomach gave a lurch.

"Not again," she groaned.

Quickly, Meg leaned across the console and dug her hand into the pocket of his coat. It was empty. She awkwardly crawled across the console and tried to move out of his way as he continued to cough up blood. This proved to be difficult though since she was practically on his lap.

Her hand went into his other pocket and she came up short. Looking around frantically, Meg tried to think of another place to hide a hex bag. She was just about to dash out of the car and to the trunk when he placed a hand on the dashboard. His hand traveled down and he started to hit against the glove compartment.

Meg yanked the keys from the ignition and turned around to jam the key into the lock. She twisted the key and opened it to see a hex bag sitting inside. Grasping the bag, Meg shoved a hand into her own pocket for her lighter.

The lighter wasn't there though and she felt herself begin to genuinely panic. Castiel caught onto the situation and took the hex bag from her. She watched as he held it tightly in his fist before it burst into blue flames. Blood stopped erupting from his mouth and he leaned back against the seat with his eyes closed, letting the hex bag remains fall to the floor of the car.

Meg continued to sit on his lap, feeling more uncomfortable by the second. Then she looked at him. He looked like he had gone to hell and back several times. Blood was all down his front, making Meg look down to make sure she hadn't gotten too much blood on her. There was some, but it was nothing compared to Castiel.

Leaning toward him, Meg pushed his overcoat off of his shoulders and balled it up. She then yanked his t-shirt over his head and he let her, giving no resistance since he was absolutely spent. Meg was about to get out of the car to get clean clothes from the back when his hand coiled around her wrist. He gave a gentle tug and she fell forward.

Her head was pressed against his chest as he positioned an arm around her waist.

"Don't worry," he croaked. "I'll never ask you to do anything for me again."

"Promise?" she asked, starting to feel entirely _too _comfortable pressed against him.

"Of course," he said.

"And when you need something of me?" she questioned, her voice miraculously taking over a teasing tone.

"Then I hope you'll do it with your own freewill," Castiel responded.


	14. Red

_011. Red_

"Are you sure you don't want to go looking for these bitches?" Meg asked. "Or bitch. I guess there really could be only one."

"I'm positive," Castiel confirmed. "Eventually they'll realize that I can't be killed. I'll take care of them if they're foolish enough to seek me out."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Meg sighed, pressing her head against the bathroom mirror.

After the bloody fiasco in the car, Meg had found the nearest rest stop. They were in the men's bathroom and Castiel had just cleaned up in one of the showers that were meant for truckers. Meg was sitting on the counter with the sinks and turning away anyone who walked in.

They were alone in the bathroom and things were still extremely awkward between them. Neither one of them had brought up what had happened before the hex bag had affected him. Maybe they would never bring it up, or maybe it was only a matter of time.

"So, are we okay?" Meg asked.

"I don't think anything about our situation is okay," Castiel said.

"Not the situation, just us," Meg said. "You and me. Are we okay? Back to normal? No more requests for torture?"

"I told you I wouldn't ask anything of you again," Castiel said. "I intend to keep that promise."

Meg nodded and closed her eyes, taking in a breath. She had really hated doing that to him. In her head the picture of him writhing in pain next to her was still so clear. Not to mention all of that blood. That entire car ride was just one red memory that she could do without.

Opening her eyes, Meg saw Castiel walking out of the shower stall. He was buckling his belt, the strap of his duffle bag on one bare shoulder. Meg took a few moments to appreciate her view. It was hard to believe that a man in his mid-thirties with a family and a love for the Bible could look that good. She briefly wondered if Castiel possessing him had anything to do with his physique, then she realized that she didn't care.

She watched as he rifled through his bag, withdrawing a red button-down shirt. He slipped it on and before he could even move his hands to the buttons, Meg was there in front of him. She took the bottom button and slipped it easily into the buttonhole.

"You look good in red," she praised.

"Thanks," he said, standing stiffly and awkwardly.

Meg tried to hide a snort. He could be shoving her up against a wall threatening to kill her one day and then getting all bashful at her buttoning his shirt the next. The word "adorable" came to mind, but she quickly brushed it aside.

Sometimes she forgot why she was traveling with him in the first place. Insurance and a bodyguard should be the only things she thought of him as. An enemy was another suitable title for him. But he didn't feel like those things anymore. He was Clarence, her boy, and she was his if he wanted her.

"All done," she announced, buttoning up the final button but leaving a few unbuttoned at the top.

She smoothed her hands across his chest, flattening out the material. Placing her hands on her hips, Meg looked up at him to see him looking at her warily.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" he asked, taking a few steps back from her.

"What? I can't be nice?" Meg questioned, closing the distance between them.

Castiel looked like he was about to say something, but apparently thought against it. He walked back to his bag and took out his overcoat. He held it up in front of him to see it wrinkled and stained. The red blood had dried on the dark material as a rather unpleasant brown. Castiel sighed as he placed it back in the bag.

"This is why I bought you backup jackets," Meg said, walking toward him and looking through his bag.

She withdrew one of the jackets she had bought for him and handed it to him. He took it and shrugged it on as she zipped up his bag.

"We'll probably have to get your coat dry cleaned," Meg said. "That's going to be fun to explain."

"True," Castiel said with a chuckle.

Meg looked at him and grinned. She loved it when she was able to make him laugh, even if it was just a little bit.

They left the rest stop bathroom to see quite a few weird glances coming their way. Meg enjoyed the looks, embracing them. Castiel on the other hand chose to ignore them.

Once they reached the car Meg opened the trunk and Castiel placed his bag in there. She closed the door and was about to take her hand away when one of his clamped on top of hers, pressing it against the car.

"Look, I-," he started, attempting to find the right words.

Meg looked at him expectantly. He was avoiding looking directly at her, choosing to look out at the road. His mouth was opening and closing, giving him a rather fishlike appearance.

"Clarence," Meg said after some time. "Just spit it out."

He looked at her and she knew what he was looking at. Castiel couldn't see the face of the beautiful human girl she was possessing. He saw her true face. A twisted and ugly face of a demon was what he saw. For a second she thought that he might just tell her to forget it.

"I appreciate everything that you've done for me," he said finally, his eyes never moving from hers. "I know that I'm probably acting more like a liability than anything right now. So, thank you for looking out for me."

She hadn't been expecting that. Meg gave a short nod in understanding and he quickly turned around, making his way to the passenger side.

Meg got into the car as well, her mind still reeling at his random declaration. She looked into the rearview mirror and saw something miraculous. She was blushing a very faint red.


	15. White

_019. White_

Halloween had come and gone and November had arrived. It was strange for both of them to think that they had been spending over a month together. No more hex bags had arrived and Meg was beginning to wonder if the witches had learned their lesson. Obviously a hex bag wasn't going to kill Castiel, so they probably just gave up trying.

She hoped they had given up trying. Castiel didn't exactly have an abundance of shirts and the dry cleaners would probably start asking questions after a while. Their last few attempts hadn't been that convincing. Meg had even started looking around online for answers to getting out bloodstains.

They had been laying low for a few days. Missouri was almost behind them and Meg was looking forward to getting out of the state. She wanted a change of scenery and the short drive they would be making through Tennessee might just provide that.

Currently, they were driving around town and trying to find a place to stay for the night. It wasn't a very populated area, so a commercial hotel wasn't an option. Meg was refusing to stay in a dinky motel room, so a bed & breakfast was something she was keeping her eyes out for.

"What about that place?" Castiel asked, pointing toward a small white building a block ahead.

"Yeah, I guess it's worth checking out," Meg shrugged.

She headed toward the building, desperately hoping that it was a B&B. After driving all day she wanted nothing more than to take a shower and collapse onto the nearest bed. Of course sleeping wasn't an option, but resting was always nice.

"I should teach you how to drive," Meg said.

"Why?" he asked. "You seem to be handling it just fine."

"Because it gets boring," Meg groaned, turning into the building's tiny parking lot.

"Sitting next to you while you drive isn't exactly entertaining," Castiel said.

"That's because you don't see the beauty of the passenger seat," Meg stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

He gave her a doubtful look and Meg tried not to roll her eyes at him. She looked at the white building, which turned out to be an old house, and saw the B&B sign on the front.

"Thank goodness," Meg sighed in relief.

She exited the car and got her bag from the back. Castiel did the same and she locked the car before heading up the porch. The door was unlocked and she pushed it open.

It was a quaint place, nothing special, but not rundown. It was clean and there were several potted flowers. It might have been a bit too cheerful for her liking, but Meg saw it as suitable.

"Hello and welcome!" a cheery voice greeted.

Castiel and Meg turned to the front desk to see a plump woman waiting for them. It was only 8 o'clock at night, but this woman looked like she had just woken up. Her obviously dyed blonde hair was in rollers and she was wearing a pink robe with matching slippers.

"Uh, hi," Meg said, walking toward the desk with Castiel right behind her.

"Welcome to the White Lily Inn!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "I'm Carole and we are _so _happy that you're here!"

She continued to smile at them, blinking her big eyes several times. Castiel and Meg continued to stare at her before looking at each other slowly.

"Oh, we rarely get young people here!" Carole continued, completely oblivious to their discomfort. "Are you two a couple? Newlyweds? Not-so newlyweds?"

"Um, we just want a room," Meg finally managed.

"Well, of course!" Carole said, flipping through a huge leather-bound book. "One night and breakfast?"

"Yes," Meg nodded.

Carole penciled in something before looking up at them expectantly. They both looked back and she nodded, obviously wanting them to say something.

"And the name you're going to be staying under is…?" Carole asked.

"Oh, right," Meg nodded. "Masters."

This seemed to please Carole as she wrote this down in her book. She then outstretched her hand and Meg knew what she wanted this time. Meg rifled through her bag, looking for her wallet, when Castiel handed over one of his credit cards. Carole took it delightedly before running it through an ancient machine.

"I always love a gentleman," she enthused, handing Castiel his card back. "Okay, since you two are our only customers you get the best room. It's the honeymoon suite, room 12."

She handed them a rather ornate key ring which Meg took cautiously.

"It's right up those stairs and the room at the end of the hall," Carole announced, once again feeling the need to clap her hands together. "I just need one more thing from you two."

"And what's that?" Castiel asked.

"A picture!" Carole exclaimed, taking an old Polaroid camera from under the desk. "We do it for all of the guests. You sign it and we put it on the board!"

She gestured toward a large cork board at the wall opposite of them that was covered in Polaroid pictures. Meg opened her mouth in protest, but stopped when Carole was already pointing the camera at them.

"Don't worry," Carole said, waving a hand dismissively. "You two make a gorgeous couple."

So, they both decided to grin and bear it. On the first attempt they tried to just stand next to each other, but after much coaxing from Carole they had taken a different approach. Meg was standing closely next to Castiel and he had an arm wrapped around her shoulders. Carole took the photo as soon as she had convinced both of them to smile.

After a few minutes of Carole frantically shaking the photo, she looked at it with a broad smile.

"You both look wonderful," she assured. "It doesn't even look like you've been traveling."

Carole passed them the photo before searching for a marker at her desk so they could sign in. Castiel held the photo in his hands and Meg peaked at it from beside him. Carole was right; they did make a gorgeous couple. Despite the awkwardness of their positioning, they both looked content. The smiles on their faces didn't look exactly forced, and they looked good together. If Meg was just a random traveler looking at their picture on the board she would assume that they were a very happy and loving couple.

"Sign it, please," Carole said, handing them a black maker.

Meg quickly signed her name before passing the marker to Castiel who did the same. He gave the marker and photo back to Carole and before she could say anything else, Castiel took both of their bags and dashed up the stairs. Meg followed quickly behind him, faintly hearing Carole wish them goodnight.

When they reached the room, Meg took out the key and hastily opened the door. As soon as the door was shut behind them they looked at each other with horrified expressions.

"If I didn't know better, I would think that she's possessed," Meg said.

"I agree," Castiel nodded, placing the bags down on the floor.

Meg looked around the room, appraising it. It was a lot bigger than she expected. There wasn't a TV, but a stack of board games on top of the dresser. Meg inwardly snickered, wondering when the last time board games were played in the honeymoon suite.

The room had maple furnishings including a desk and chair shoved to the side. In the middle of the room was a huge bed with a white comforter and matching, fluffy pillows. The bathroom was attached to the room and Meg assumed that it was just as quaint as the rest of the room.

She was just about to head for the shower when her eyes landed on a Scrabble box. Meg took the box from the dresser before turning around and facing Castiel with a smile.

"Scrabble?" she proposed.

"I've never played," he stated, looking at the box blankly.

"That's even better," Meg smirked.

After a quick summary of the general rules and a few well thought-out words later, Meg was sitting on the white bed waiting for Castiel's next move. She was clearly the victor of this game, but that didn't stop her from humoring him a little. He was concentrating awfully hard at this anyway.

"Hurry it up, Clarence," Meg said, her patience starting to grow thin.

"I'm thinking," he said.

"Oh, I can tell," Meg snorted, shaking her head.

As soon as she said this, Castiel played a rather long word that managed to cover the majority of the board they still had to clear. Meg tilted her head to the side as she attempted to read it.

"Is that even in English?" she asked.

"No, it's Enochian," Castiel said.

"Okay, that's cheating," Meg said. "You can't use different languages."

"That wasn't a rule you covered," he pointed out, giving her a smirk.

Meg opened her mouth to tell him off when she realized that he was right. She hadn't mentioned that English was the only language you could use.

"Well, then I guess I'll have to use my own language talents in the next game," she announced, clearing the board without bothering to add up the score.

"What languages can you speak?" he asked.

"English and sarcasm," Meg said.

Castiel gave her an amused look and she grinned in response. Hopefully Carole wouldn't notice a missing Scrabble game when they checked out tomorrow.


	16. Hours

_006. Hours_

"Okay, now _gently _press down on the gas," Meg instructed.

Castiel did the opposite of that though. The car lurched forward and Meg braced herself against the dashboard.

"I said gently!" Meg exclaimed when he slammed on the brake.

They had decided to stay in the small Missouri town so Meg could teach Castiel how to drive. She had already forged him a driver's license, but she didn't trust him on the road until he had passed her made-up driving test. They had been at it for hours, but he just wasn't picking up on it.

"I'm awful at this," Castiel said.

"No, you're just not trying," Meg said through gritted teeth. "Now, either really try or I'm getting Carole to teach you how to drive."

This seemed to be the motivation Castiel needed. He tried again and this time the car drove smoothly down the length of the supermarket parking lot. Meg smiled and leaned back against the passenger seat.

"You were just messing with me the entire time, weren't you?" she asked, turning her head to look at him.

"Maybe," he shrugged.

Meg gave a small laugh. "Well, for that you're driving all the way through Tennessee and we're only stopping for gas."

Castiel shook his head as he easily turned a corner. "That's fine."

She gave a nod of approval. Neither one of them said anything about them staying in this town longer than they had initially planned. Despite the nosey innkeeper and rundown little town, they kind of liked it there. It was quiet and no one poked into their business (besides Carole). Meg started to think that she wouldn't mind staying there for a lot longer when she realized what she was actually thinking.

Staying with Castiel was nice. It was comfortable, good, and kind of wonderful. She had either been in hell or with a pack of demons her entire life. Working with an angel was a ridiculous idea, but it didn't feel like she was with an angel. It was like she was a human again and he was just another human too.

It was as if they were friends running away together on a road trip to the ocean. That was exactly what it was too. Except she wasn't foolish enough to think that they were actually friends.

"So, have you perfected the art of driving?" Meg asked after he had made a full loop around the parking lot. "Or do you need a few more hours to master it?"

"I think I've reached proficiency," Castiel decided.

"'Proficiency'?" Meg repeated, perking an eyebrow. "Someone's expanding their vocabulary for Scrabble tonight."

"I am going to beat you tonight."

"Funny, that's what you said last night."

Castiel just shook his head as he turned onto the main road. Meg worried for a second that he might crash the car since he hadn't had any practice on a real road yet. In the end she didn't have to worry since the ride back to the White Lily was uneventful. He pulled into the B&B's small parking lot and parked the car, staying perfectly inside the lines.

"Nice parking job," Meg said under her breath as she opened up the passenger door to get out of the car.

"Thank you," Castiel said, seeming slightly startled by her random praise.

"Rhetorical comment," Meg said.

"'Rhetorical'?" Castiel mocked. "_Someone's _expanding their vocabulary for-."

"Oh, shut up," Meg cut off with an eye roll.

They entered the inn to see Carole and her husband, Carl, talking excitedly to a new pair of guests. Castiel and Meg exchanged a look and a nod as they tried to quietly make their way up the staircase to their room.

"Look!" Carole exclaimed before they could even make it to the staircase. "The lovebirds are back!"

"Maybe we can act like we didn't hear her," Castiel murmured to her.

"I don't think it works that way," Meg said.

"Come on you two," Carole said, ushering for them to come over. "Meet our new guests."

Castiel and Meg reluctantly made their way to the front desk to see the two fools who had decided to check in. The fools were another couple and they were both blonde and tan.

"These two are newlyweds just like you!" Carl said with just as much enthusiasm as his wife.

Actually, they had never told Carole and Carl what they were. They had just assumed that they were newlyweds for reasons neither one was exactly sure of.

"Oh, that's great," Meg said, giving a big smile and plenty of sarcasm.

"Since they're in the honeymoon suite we'll give you two our next best room," Carole said, handing over one of the clunky key rings. "It's the presidential suite."

"That's lovely, thank you," the husband said. "Are you two going to be in town for long?"

It took a few seconds before Castiel and Meg figured that they were the ones being addressed. The pair looked at each other, both giving the same panicked expressions.

"No, we're leaving first thing in the morning," Castiel said quickly.

They had never exactly discussed how long they were staying. Meg didn't have any problems with leaving so soon though. Tomorrow morning translated to 7 AM, and that was only 14 hours away.

"Aw, well that's a shame," the wife said. "Oh, wait, I have an idea!"

That was never a good sign.

"How about we go out to dinner tonight?" she suggested. "We've been traveling for days and I've been dying for Andrew to take me somewhere nice."

"You four should go to the Lily Pad!" Carole said. "It's _really_ fancy."

"Oh, we can't," Meg said hastily, hoping that she could swindle her way out of this. "We have to get up early in the morning and-."

"I'm pretty sure you two can spare a few hours for dinner," Carl said before turning to the couple at the front desk. "They go at it like rabbits. They're always in their room and never apart."

Meg rolled her eyes at the statement. Apparently their Scrabble games were being mistaken for passionate lovemaking.

"Please, you two," the wife said. "It's been ages since I've had some girl talk. We can eat at seven, it'll be over at nine."

Castiel and Meg exchanged a look. They could accept and have to endure two hours with Mr. and Mrs. Stepford, but with a lot of good food. Or they could go back to their room and play Scrabble for 14 hours straight.

"Fine, we'll go," Meg said finally with Castiel giving a reluctant nod at her side.

"Oh, yay!" the wife said excitedly. "I'm Abigail and this is my husband, Andrew."

"I'm Meg, this is Castiel," Meg said, lacking the excitement that Abigail was full of.

"So, we'll meet at seven right here in the lobby," Andrew decided.

They nodded along in agreement before quickly dashing up the stairs. Once in their room, they faced each other.

"Great, the first date you take me on and it's a double date with Barbie and Ken," Meg said dryly.

"I thought that they were named Andrew and Abigail," Castiel said, tilting his head to the side.

"Clarence, if you're not going to get my pop culture jokes then I'm going to have to stop making them," Meg said.

"Is that all it takes?"

"Oh, shut up."


	17. Names

_098. Names_

Meg was in the process of brushing her hair when Castiel's reflection appeared in the mirror. She jumped and turned around, giving him an angry look.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" she asked, placing a hand to her chest.

"My apologies," Castiel said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Yeah, it's fine," Meg said, waving a hand dismissively.

Castiel nodded before slipping a hand into the pocket of his overcoat. He withdrew two small velvet boxes and Meg perked an eyebrow at him.

"What are those?" she asked.

He opened up both of the boxes. In one box was a plain, silver wedding band. The other box also had a silver wedding band along with an engagement ring.

"We're supposed to be married," he said, handing her the box with the two rings. "We might as well look the part if we're going to go through with this."

Meg took the ring box, gazing at the two rings. They were plain and simple and entirely not her style. Marriage was one thing she had never seen the purpose of. Why did so many humans do it? What was the appeal of choosing just one person to spend the rest of your life with? It seemed so binding.

"Okay then, Castiel," she said.

He gave her a confused look. "You never call me that."

"Well, we're married, so I guess I better start," she shrugged.

Castiel gave a slow nod. He looked at her before looking at his feet and then everywhere else in the room. She was about to ask what he was doing when he spoke up.

"I suppose we are married, Meg," he finally said.

Meg tried to ignore the flip her stomach did as she gave him a nod of her own.

"So, Castiel, how long have we been married?" she asked.

"Oh, about a year," he said thoughtfully. "Is that right, Meg?"

"Yeah, that's right," she confirmed, a smile starting to tug at her lips. "We're going on a trip to celebrate our first anniversary. Hopefully you didn't forget that, Castiel."

It looked like Castiel was beginning to smile as well and she admitted that she loved the sight. It didn't even have to do with his meatsuit's face; it was just nice to see him smiling. Before she knew that angels existed, Meg thought that they would always be smiling. When she actually met an angel she couldn't believe how wrong she had been. Being an angel must be lonely. They had been around since before time began and all they had were their siblings. It didn't surprise Meg that Castiel had rebelled.

Not to mention all of the tiring and hard work that came with the job. She didn't want to even think about that especially since each angel was supposed to be an angel of "something". It was then that she realized that she didn't know what Castiel was the angel of.

"Hey, Clarence," she said, breaking their name game from previously. "What's your name mean?"

Castiel looked at her before clearing his throat and quickly looking away. "I don't see what that has to do with anything."

"Well, if we're going to be using each other's names from now on, then I would like to know the meaning of yours," she said.

"I'm the angel of Thursdays."

It took everything in her not to laugh. Out of all the things to be an angel of, he was an angel of a day of the week. She pressed her hand against her mouth and tried not to snort. Success wasn't on her side though, and a giggle passed through her lips.

"Are you ready to go, Meg?" Castiel asked, slightly irritated.

"Um, no," Meg said, still attempting to recover from her sudden bout of giggles. "I just dried and brushed my hair. I haven't even gotten dressed yet. Neither have you apparently."

"I am dressed," Castiel said.

Meg felt another snort coming on. Castiel was dressed in what he almost always wore. His overcoat, a jacket, and a shirt tucked into a pair of dark jeans. It was a nice everyday look, but not for a "married" man going out to dinner at a nice restaurant.

"You need to change," Meg said bluntly.

Castiel gave her the look he always gave when he didn't comprehend something. In his mind he was dressed in clothes that he wore in public. They were going to a restaurant which was public which made what he was wearing appropriate.

"This restaurant is supposed to be nice," Meg elaborated. "So, you should wear some nice clothes."

"These clothes are nice," Castiel pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but…" Meg started, feeling herself get frustrated. "You're missing my point."

He gave a slow nod that only proved that he had no idea what she was talking about. Giving a heavy sigh, Meg made her way to the opposite side of the room. She took his duffle bag from the floor and placed it on the bed. After several minutes of sorting through the bag, she took out a few articles of clothing.

"Here, go change," Meg instructed, handing him the clothes.

Castiel took them and gave her one more confused look before heading into the bathroom. When the door shut Meg went back to the dresser and started to apply her makeup. It was such a strange thing to do. Usually she applied it just to fit in with the humans, but now she was doing it to go on a date. A double date actually, and with Castiel the Thursday Angel as her date. Once again it seemed like her life would currently make a really bad joke.

After her makeup was applied, Meg pulled her hair back into a messy (but nicely styled) bun. She grabbed her own duffle bag from the floor and withdrew the only dress that she had. While shopping all of those weeks ago she had bought a dress on a whim. She had no idea what she would wear it for, but on a date with Castiel definitely hadn't passed her mind.

She made a glance toward the bathroom door to make sure it was still closed before changing out of the robe she had put on after her shower. Quickly, Meg slipped into a pair of underwear and a strapless bra before putting on the dress.

It was a deep purple strapless dress with a black belt cinching the waist. She wasn't usually one for dresses since they were more than difficult to fight in, but this one just stood out to her. That wasn't the only thing that had stuck out to her either. Reaching into the duffle bag once more, Meg took out a pair of black peep toe heels that had also been bought on a whim. She would need the height tonight since her meatsuit was so short compared to everyone.

Meg had just finished getting ready when Castiel came out of the bathroom. He stood next to her in the mirror and looked at their reflection. She looked as well and felt a little startled by what she saw. The picture Carole had taken of them when they had first arrived paled in comparison to how they looked now.

Castiel looked more than nice in his white button-down shirt that was tucked into black dress pants. He was wearing his tie loose since a couple of buttons were unbuttoned. His dark hair was short and neat, but the stubble threw off the clean-cut look.

"So, ready to go now?" he asked.

"Yeah," Meg nodded, glancing at the clock on the wall.

It was 7:05, making them only five minutes late. Castiel left the overcoat and took a fitted black jacket that he hadn't even worn yet much to Meg's delight. She grabbed a jacket as well and was about to follow him out when she spotted the ring box on the dresser. Meg looked at Castiel who was standing by the door to see the silver band on the appropriate finger of his left hand. Turning back to the dresser, Meg took the box and slipped the new rings on her finger.

"Where did you get these rings anyway?" Meg asked.

"Pawn shop," Castiel said with a shrug.

Meg nodded approvingly, taking her purse from the dresser and following him out into the hallway. They locked the door and headed downstairs into the front room to see Andrew and Abigail waiting for them. Andrew was wearing something quite similar to Castiel while Abigail had elected to wear the gaudiest shade of pink she could find.

"Oh, we were worried you two weren't going to make it!" Abigail said as they approached.

"Well, we're here now," Meg said, already feeling dread pool in her stomach.

"Yes, it's good to see you again, Barb-,"

"Abigail and Andrew!" Meg said quickly, efficiently cutting off Castiel.

There was a short and awkward pause.

"Um, well, I guess we'll drive to the restaurant separately," Andrew said. "We'll lead the way since Carole gave us the directions."

"Okay," Meg nodded.

It was then that Meg noticed that the inn was entirely too quiet. Looking around, she saw no signs of Carole or her husband. Castiel seemed to notice this as well.

"Where are Carole and Carl?" Castiel asked.

"No idea," Abigail shrugged. "They weren't here when we came down."

"They probably just stepped out for a bit," Andrew said. "Let's go. I don't want us to miss our reservation."

The group of four left the hotel and walked to the small side parking lot. Abigail and Andrew went to their car while Castiel and Meg headed toward the Porsche. Castiel went to the driver's side and Meg gave him a smirk.

"You really think you're ready for that?" she asked.

"I can manage," he said.

They had both just closed their doors when Castiel started to cough up blood. He placed a hand on the steering wheel as the crimson liquid poured from his mouth.

"Not now," Meg groaned, quickly taking the keys from his hand and jamming one into the glove department.

The glove department was empty though. Meg looked under her seat and came up empty handed once again. She gave a worried look toward Castiel who was pressing a hand against his chest. Meg wasn't sure what he was doing, but she assumed he was using some of his powers to try and stop the hex bag's effects.

"Just hold on, I'm going to check the trunk," Meg said, opening the car door.

She exited the car and made her way to the back. Her hand was on the latch of the trunk when acid was poured onto her. Except it wasn't acid, it was holy water.

Spluttering and shaking in agony, Meg tried her best to turn around to see her attacker. All she could manage to see though was a terrible shade of pink before everything went black.


	18. Dinner

_058. Dinner_

Her head was killing her. Not to mention every other part of her body, but her head was by far the worst. Giving a small groan, Meg opened her heavy eyes as much as she could. She felt drugged. She probably was drugged.

Meg continued to open her eyes until they were completely opened. Her vision was fuzzy and it didn't feel like it would clear anytime soon. Looking down, she saw that she was sitting in a chair. Well, tied to a chair was a more accurate description. There was a needle sticking in her arm and she looked up, squinting to see an IV.

"Look who decided to join us," a familiar voice said.

Slowly, Meg turned her head to see Abigail standing a ways away from her across the room. She felt ill. Whether it was from the IV or Abigail's appearance, she didn't know.

"What are you doing?" Meg croaked, her mouth feeling like sand.

"Oh, just trapping a demon," Abigail said, shrugging. "And an angel too. It sure is our lucky day!"

Dread filled Meg. They knew what Castiel was. Using their real names was a mistake that Meg would have to fix when they got themselves out of this mess. Well, _if _they got themselves out of it.

"What about dinner?" Meg asked, her voice taking on forced sarcasm.

"I guess we'll have to postpone," Abigail said, walking toward her. "How do you like your IV? It's saltwater. It burned your insides until you passed out, and now it's numbing them. I bet you feel lovely."

"Where's Castiel?"

"With my husband."

Abigail stopped about a foot in front of her. Meg looked down to see that the chair she was sitting on was inside of a demon trap.

"So, you two are witches?" Meg asked.

"Did the hex bags give it away?" Abigail mused, now walking around Meg.

Meg didn't answer. Her head still hurt and she was beginning to feel like the room was spinning. Adding saltwater to an IV was something she would have to remember for later use.

"You see we didn't know who you two were when we planted the first bag," Abigail explained. "We were at a rest stop in Kansas and I saw him yelling at you. I hate it when a man thinks that he can push around a woman, so I planted the bag. But it didn't work."

Abigail stopped her story when a shout interrupted her. It was a woman's shout and she gave a twisted smirk.

"Well, that must be Carole," she mused. "Anyway, I told Andrew that the hex bag hadn't worked. We followed you and tried again. It failed a second time. We followed you all the way to the White Lily and all it took was for us to see your names on that picture to know who he was."

"Congratulations," Meg said. "You must be so proud. Too bad you're not going to live for much longer. You might be able to stop me, but you can't stop an angel."

With a shake of her head and a click of her tongue, Abigail turned around and opened the door of the room. Inside the other room Meg made out two figures. One was standing inside a ring of fire while the other stood outside it, arms crossed across his chest confidently.

"Oh, shit," Meg muttered when she realized what was happening.

"That's right," Abigail said, turning to Meg. "We're going to kill you and then call Crowley to pick up the angel. I think he'll be very surprised to see him still alive, but we'll get a prize for our efforts."

"What are you waiting for?" Meg asked.

"Dinner," Abigail shrugged. "Let's go, Darling. I'm very hungry."

"So am I," Andrew said in agreement. "We'll give you two a chance to say goodbye."

Andrew walked through the door and into the room with Abigail and Meg. He gave Meg a cocky smirk before taking Abigail's arm and leading her to a trapdoor in the floor. He opened it and they both descended out of the room.

It was then that it dawned on Meg where they were. They were in the attic of the White Lily. Carole and Carl were probably dead and she was next. She couldn't believe it. She was going to be killed by two stupid witches. It seemed like such a pathetic way to go.

"Meg," Castiel's voice called out.

Meg looked up to see him in the neighboring room, still in the ring of fire. Their eyes met and Meg felt an overwhelming emotion flood over her. She didn't want to die, because dying meant leaving him.

"Hey," she responded, still feeling incredibly weak from the IV.

"I'll get us out of here," he said.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Meg asked. "If you try to leave that circle you'll die."

Castiel opened his mouth to talk when he realized he couldn't say anything. It truly was hopeless. So, they just looked at each other. He had dried blood on the front of his shirt from the last hex bag, but other than that he looked fine. She probably couldn't say the same for herself. Her hair was matted to her neck with sweat and her body was numb and burning at the same time.

"I'm sorry that this happened to you," he said.

She smiled. It was weird to be smiling at such a strange time. Hell, it was weird to be smiling at all. Usually it was a smirk or she was completely faking it. But with him it was different. It was always so different when it came to him.

Dying was going to suck, but they didn't have any plans on killing Castiel. They were going to give him to Crowley and Meg knew that Castiel would be able to take care of the King of Hell. He had more than a fighting chance and that thought offered her some relief.

Meg was just starting to accept her fate when a door behind her creaked open. She tried to turn her head, but it felt like her brain was bouncing around in her skull. Footsteps were heard from behind her and she looked at Castiel's face. His expression had gone from hopeless to hopeful in a matter of seconds.

"Are they gone?" Carole asked, stepping into Meg's frame of vision.

"They've gone downstairs," Castiel informed.

"Carole?" Meg asked incredulously. "I thought they had killed you."

"They tried," she said, half-sobbing. "But they did kill Carl."

Carole then erupted into tears. She lowered herself onto the floor and placed her head in her hands.

"Carole! Carole!" Meg said hastily. "You need to calm down. If they figure out that you're still alive they'll come up here."

If anything this made Carole cry harder. Meg was about to just shout at her to shut up when Castiel started to speak.

"Carole, please calm down," he said. "We know that this is a very hard time for you, but you need to help us. You have to let Meg out."

"Out of where?" Carole asked. "How can I trust you two? You're not even human. What are you?"

Castiel and Meg shared one more glance. They both sighed and nodded their heads.

"Meg is a demon," Castiel said. "And I am an angel of the Lord."

"Wh-What?" Carole spluttered, looking from Castiel to Meg and back again.

"There's no time to explain," Castiel said. "You need to break the outer circle of that symbol."

Carole continued to sit on the floor looking completely perplexed.

"Now!" Castiel shouted, his patience obviously growing thin.

This seemed to be all of the encouragement Carole needed. She stood up and rubbed her shoe against the chalk of the demon circle. After a significant portion had been rubbed away, she took the needle out of Meg's arm. Making her way to the back of the chair, Carole attempted to untie the knots, but her hands were shaking too much.

"I'll get the ropes," Meg said, feeling her strength return to her.

She tensed slightly before outstretching her arms, the ropes tearing around her. Standing up, Meg found out that she was still uneasy on her feet. She wobbled backwards slightly and grasped the top of the chair for support. Her high heels definitely weren't helping so Meg kicked them off before making her way to Castiel.

"Well this is familiar," Meg mused, standing outside of the holy fire while he was trapped inside. "You're not going to make me lie down so you can step over me, are you?"

"Of course not," Castiel said quickly.

Meg nodded approvingly at that. She outstretched her hand and used her powers as best as she could to make part of the flames extinguish. Castiel quickly walked through the section, extinguishing the flames entirely when he exited the circle.

She was about to ask what they should do next when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. Meg stumbled slightly, but was able to place her hands on his sides.

"I'm happy that you're safe," he said.

"It's mutual," Meg said. "We should probably start going by different names from now on though."

"And not take dinner invites from strangers," Castiel said.

"Good plan. Now, let's go kill some witches."


	19. Star

_046. Star_

"Have I ever told you how much I hate witches?"

"I can't say that you have," Castiel said. "The feeling is probably mutual though."

While Abigail and Andrew were downstairs, they were taking the opportunity to find their room. According to Carole all of the rooms on the top floor had a trap door to the attic inside of the closets. Carole wasn't in any state to help them though. After seeing her husband killed in front of her and finding out about Castiel and Meg's true identities she was a bit of a mess.

They were walking through the vast attic, attempting to map it out in their minds. They might as well be mapping the stars out though. They didn't know what room they had started in, so it was nearly impossible to figure out where to go next.

"This place is like a maze," Meg said once they opened another door to reveal another room. "Are attics usually this big?"

"I've never seen one this vast," Castiel said. "This must be a very old house."

"It is," Carole said from behind them.

Castiel and Meg both turned around. Despite not trusting them and being terrified out of her mind, Carole had still followed them. If she had stayed in the room Abigail and Andrew would have found her after all.

"Carole, can you tell us where the trap door to our room is?" Castiel asked.

She looked from Castiel to Meg with uncertain eyes. Then she slowly began to nod. "Through this door straight ahead and then the door to the left."

"Thank you," Castiel said.

Castiel headed through the door in front of them with Meg close behind him. She was itching to kill those witches. They had humiliated her and she was ready to use some of her old torturing skills on them.

After heading through one more door, they came to a room with yet another trap door. Meg grabbed the handle and yanked it open before lowering herself down. Castiel helped Carole down before going through the door himself. He shut the door as Meg opened the closet door to their room.

It appeared that they hadn't made it to their room to look through their things yet. Everything was in its place. Meg made her way to the nearest duffle bag she could find. It was Castiel's and she started to search through it when she realized how stupid they were.

Leaning back against the dresser, Meg pushed the bag away from her and looked up at Castiel. He looked down at her and gave her an inquiring look.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We don't have any weapons," she stated. "You may be able to handle yourself, but I would feel a hell of a lot better if I had a gun or a knife. How could we have forgotten to get weapons?"

Castiel sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I can take care of them. You stay here and once they're dead I'll-."

"No," Meg said sharply. "You're not doing this on your own. They have holy oil, if they know that much they might even have an angel sword. They could also resort to hex bags. You're strong, Clarence, but you're out of practice and we don't know what those two are capable of."

The look on his face made it obvious that he knew she was right. He sat down on the edge of the bed, facing her. Meg looked up at him and he looked back at her. She was about to start brainstorming when a sigh interrupted her thoughts.

"Oh, I understand now," Carole said.

Meg and Castiel looked at her, both of them confused as to what she understood.

"What do you mean?" Castiel asked.

"You two are star-crossed lovers!" she exclaimed. "It's so obvious now. If you two really are an angel and a demon, of course you can't be together. So, you ran away and now people are after you."

This was one thing they both never thought would apply to them. Star-crossed lovers? The whole fate written in the stars thing? It seemed pretty crazy when Castiel and Meg were involved.

But if a crazy love story made Carole want to help them, then so be it. Meg's meatsuit was an aspiring actress after all, she could play along.

"You're right," Meg said, standing up and taking Castiel's hands in hers. "Castiel and I are running. We met by chance and I was just so enraptured by his… everything. I just love everything about him."

Castiel was currently looking at her like she had lost her mind. Carole on the other hand looked on the verge of tears.

"You two remind me of Carl and me," she said, tears swimming in her eyes. "My father didn't approve, so we ran away together and started this inn. We thought that it would last forever."

Carole couldn't finish the rest of the story though. She began to wail, curling up into a ball on the floor.

"Carole, you need to calm down," Castiel said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "They'll hear you."

This didn't do anything though. If anything it made her cry harder. Meg rolled her eyes out of annoyance. She was more trouble than she was good.

Castiel continued in his attempts to calm her down, but they weren't working any better. Eventually he outstretched his hand and no sound escaped from her anymore. She still continued to cry, but she made no sound.

"That's convenient," Meg said, watching as Carole continued to cry completely oblivious to her lack of vocals.

"I've considered using it on you a few times," he said.

Meg raised an eyebrow at him and he looked back at her, giving a slight grin. "I'm only joking."

"Yeah, whatever you say, Clarence," Meg snorted. "So, what's the plan?"

Castiel nodded at this and sat back down on the bed. She sat beside him, looking outside at the stars littering the night sky. She didn't know what time it was, but it was probably time for Abigail and Andrew to finish up their "dinner".

"We could trap them upstairs when they go back up there," Meg suggested.

"No, there's too many doors," Castiel said. "We wouldn't reach them all in time."

"Okay, well I just know that I have to get my hands on some kind of weapon," Meg said. "Maybe I can sneak into the kitchen to get a knife."

Before Castiel could respond, the sound of a fist pounding against the floor got their attention. They looked back at Carole who seemed to want to tell them something. Castiel raised his hand once more and her voice was returned to her.

"Carl left a gun under our bed," she said. "Our room is just a few doors down."

"That works," Meg said, standing up.

"We'll wait until they head back to the attic before you get it," Castiel said.

"Why not get it now?"

"Because I'm not letting you do this on your own."

Meg caught Castiel's eye once more. Apparently he was looking after her too. Off to the side they heard Carole give a sigh.

"Oh, you two were written in the stars," she said.

"Let's go get the gun now," Meg said quickly, making her way toward the door.

"Right behind you," Castiel said, following her.


	20. Smell

_036. Smell_

Carole and Carl's room was a short walk from the honeymoon suite. They had decided to leave Carole barricaded in the suite until it was all over. She was still pretty shaken up (which they didn't blame her for), but was doing well considering all that had happened.

It didn't take long to reach the room and once they did, they went immediately to the bed. Meg pulled up the bed skirt and reached under until her hand touched the top of a shoebox. She slid the box out from under the bed and opened it up to reveal an old and used pistol. Meg examined it closely and shrugged.

"It'll work," she said, checking to see if it was loaded, which it was.

"So what now?" Castiel asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Meg looked up at him from the floor with a perked eyebrow. She gave a small smirk as she stood up.

"Did you just ask me what we're going to do next?" she asked.

"Well, yes," he said.

"I'm sorry, but did a fluffy, little tree topper just ask me what the plan is?" she mused, clearly enjoying this.

It seemed that Castiel had caught on to what she was doing. He gave an audible sigh before standing up, towering over her tiny form.

"Yes, I am," he said firmly. "What do you think we should do next?"

Meg bit her lip and tried to suppress a smile. Well, if she was going to make the plan, then she should do it right. He probably wanted to waste some more time on tactics or something, but she wanted to get right down to it.

"I say we go to the dining room and just kill the witches," she suggested. "It's two-against-two, we have the element of surprise, and we're a lot stronger."

"Didn't you say something before about not knowing what to expect?" he asked. "They could be waiting for us. We can't underestimate them."

"Okay, then we'll use the ultimate element of surprise," Meg proposed. "You'll teleport us down there and they won't even be able to do anything before we blow their heads off."

She didn't exactly know what to expect when she said that. For some reason she thought that he would be against such a straightforward idea. He nodded his head though and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, get ready then," he said.

Meg was only slightly taken aback by his readiness. She recovered quickly and nodded, readying her gun to shoot on sight. Castiel's grip on her shoulder tightened as she felt the air shift around them. Instantly they were in the dining room and Meg lifted the gun when she realized that no one was there. The dining room was empty and it looked like no one had been there to begin with.

"So much for your plan," Castiel said.

"Yeah, but something doesn't seem right," Meg said slowly. "And there's this weird smell in the air."

Castiel nodded in agreement and followed her when she headed into the kitchen. The kitchen was just off the dining room. Meg and Castiel reached the swinging door and Meg cautiously placed her hand on the door. Without giving it too much thought, Meg swung the door open and was instantly assaulted by black smoke and the strong smell of burning flesh.

Despite being a demon, Meg was still affected by the smoke. She coughed and spluttered, waving a hand in front of her face to no avail. The smoke was thick, blocking her vision, but the smell had no problem assaulting her. She recognized that stench anywhere. It was like the smell of hell. It was rotting, burning, and dark, filling up her head with memories.

Usually memories of hell had never bothered her before. Some memories were even fond to look back on, but this time it was very unwelcome. There was something about Castiel standing next to her that made her not want to think about hell and everything that she had done there.

"Who are they burning?" Meg gasped out once she could talk.

"I think it's Carl," Castiel said, disgust lacing his voice

Castiel outstretched his hand and the smoke cleared. He walked to the oven and opened it. More black smoke greeted them and Castiel cleared it once more. Both Meg and Castiel looked into the oven to see the charred and ripped apart remains of Carl.

"Witches, absolutely no class," Meg said, wrinkling up her nose.

"That's something coming from a demon," Castiel said.

He had said it quietly and slightly under his breath. She knew that he hadn't meant anything by it, that he was just saying what came to his mind. He was always blunt like that after all.

It still hurt though, a surprising amount. She knew what she was and she was proud of what she was. But hearing him compare her in such distaste to witches sent an uneasy feeling to her stomach. That one little comment shouldn't have bothered her as much as it did.

"I'll clean up this mess," he said. "You should look for them."

Meg was just about to agree when a scream pierced through the air. It came from upstairs and Meg knew that the honeymoon suite was the most likely possibility. Before she could even say anything, Castiel placed his hand on her shoulder once more. Instantly they were in the honeymoon suite.

Except nothing was wrong. Carole was sitting on the bed looking completely unharmed except for the panicked look on her face.

"I'm sorry," she said, tears staining her face.

A match was dropped and both Castiel and Meg were trapped in a circle of holy fire. They turned around to see Abigail and Andrew looking at them with smug smiles. Meg charged forward, not caring about getting burned, when she was stopped just inside the flames. Looking up, Meg saw a demon circle painted on the ceiling above her.

"Not again," she groaned, looking at Castiel.

This night was proving to be a lot longer than it probably should have been.


	21. Teammates

_026. Teammates_

"You know for an angel and a demon, you two sure are stupid," Abigail said, walking back and forth in front of the ring of holy fire. "This is the second time we've got you."

It was hard for Meg not to roll her eyes. These witches were getting on her last nerve, but thankfully they were stupid. They obviously hadn't noticed the gun Meg had quickly stowed away under her dress. Last time she had checked witches weren't exactly invincible to bullets.

She didn't have any plans on shooting them just yet. It was obvious that Castiel wanted answers from the two buffoons. Answers as to how they got the holy oil and who they were working for. Because when you thought about it, witches this stupid had to have been hired by somebody.

"What do you plan on doing with us?" Castiel asked. "Earlier you said something about Crowley, but I don't think that's true."

"It's not," Andrew said with a snort. "We don't work for Crowley, we work for someone else."

"And who's that?" Castiel questioned.

"I really don't think you're in any position to be asking questions," Andrew sneered.

It was pretty clear that Andrew wanted to answer questions though. He obviously wanted to prove himself to an angel, to show him that he was stronger and better than him. It wasn't working. Castiel's face was a mixture of disgust and impassiveness, a facial expression he used to give her. There was also amusement twinkling in his blue eyes. If Meg didn't know better she would have thought that he was enjoying this.

She did know better though, so Meg knew that he was silently plotting their escape. Meg watched as Castiel's eyes flickered to the demon circle on the ceiling. He then looked at the dresser that Abigail was standing in front of, positioned right in front of the holy fire circle. Then his eyes met Meg's.

If there was anything that could look right through her it was his eyes. They held each other's gaze before his eyes flickered to the back of her dress where she had hid the gun. Their eyes met once more and for some reason she knew exactly what he was going to do.

Castiel made a sharp movement with his hand and the drawers of the dresser pulled open. The drawers hit Abigail's back and she fell forward, her body hitting the holy fire. Meg quickly withdrew the gun and shot Abigail in the head. Andrew let out an anguished scream as he tried to go to her.

Abigail's body was being smothered by the flames though, making it difficult for him to get close. Quickly, Castiel walked over Abigail's body and moved his hand downward, extinguishing the flames. Meg was about to walk to him when she was stopped by the demon circle.

"A little help here, Clarence?" she suggested, placing her hands on her hips.

He looked back to her and nodded, moving his hand up toward the ceiling. A crack appeared through the demon circle, making it safe for Meg to come out.

She could barely believe that they had made it out of there scratch-free when she heard a whimper from behind her. Turning around, she saw Andrew holding a knife to Carole's throat, a demented look in his eyes.

"If you let me go, I won't kill her," he said.

This guy really was an idiot if he thought that they would let him walk free at the expense of a human. Well, that was what Meg thought until she looked at Carole. This wasn't her fault, her husband had just died and now her inn was being taken over by all of this craziness. She tried to tell herself to snap out of this, that she was a lowlife human, but she couldn't.

Meg looked at Castiel to see the same look on his face. He was actually considered letting him go as well. Apparently the Winchesters had rubbed off on him and he was now rubbing off on her.

"Don't," Carole said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "My husband is dead, my inn is ruined, and I don't have any children. Let me die, don't let a monster like him get away."

The mention of a witch being a monster and not her made Meg's heart go out to Carole even more. She hated it, absolutely despised it. What was Castiel turning her into?

"Meg," Castiel said suddenly, his voice breaking through the tense silence. "You get Carole; I'll take care of him."

"Not a chance," Meg snorted. "We're taking care of him together."

Andrew's eyes flooded with panic momentarily before regaining his composure. He pressed the knife even closer to Carole's throat. This was apparently their warning to backup or she died. Needless to say, it didn't work very well.

"Who are you working for?" Castiel asked calmly.

"I don't think you're in any position to ask questions!" Andrew shrieked, the threat sounding more scared than it had previously.

"No, I don't think you are in any position to not answer," Castiel said with a shake of his head.

Once more, Castiel flicked his hand and the knife threatening Carole flew from his hand and landed on the other side of the room. He moved quickly toward Andrew and grabbed him roughly by his shirt collar.

"Who is it?"

"Almost as much of a dick as you are," Andrew spat.

Castiel placed his hand on Andrew's forehead and a bright light erupted from his skull before his body fell to the ground. The three of them remaining all stood in a long silence. Meg looked at Castiel while Castiel looked at Andrew's corpse at his feet. Carole looked like she was about to pass out.

"It's over," Castiel said, turning toward Carole.

"Oh, okay," she said, nodding. "What do I do now?"

The question had sounded simple when she said it, but moments later she was brought to her knees. Carole started to sob loudly as she clutched to Castiel's pant leg.

"You're an angel, aren't you?" she cried. "Can't you do something?"

Meg's eyes stayed focused on Castiel as he sighed, now looking at his hands in front of him. There was something inside of her that made her want to reach out to him. She wanted to console him. They were kind of like teammates now after all.

"We'll help repair your inn," he offered. "We'll make sure you never come to harm again."

"But can you bring him back?" Carole said, her voice barely over a whisper.

"No, I can't."


	22. Thanksgiving

_093. Thanksgiving_

They remained at the White Lily Inn for a few more weeks. Both Castiel and Meg had decided to clean up the inn for Carole since it was the least they could do. Carole certainly wasn't in any state to help them. She had busy contacting Carl's family, giving him a funeral, and meeting lawyers to go over his will. Carole had been running in and out of the inn so frequently the past few weeks that it was like she was the guest staying there.

The only day she stayed in the inn the entire day was when she packed up Carl's things. Castiel and Meg had been repairing the crack in the ceiling in the honeymoon suite when they had heard her sobs. After a few minutes of hearing her cry, Castiel had left the room to go down the hall. Meg had stood around awkwardly, not knowing if she should follow him or not. In the end she did follow him, leaning against the door frame as she watched Castiel console Carole as she cried.

All damage to the inn had been fixed about a week ago, but Castiel and Meg were still staying. They didn't know why they didn't just get in their car and leave. Meg told herself that it was because Thanksgiving was today and she liked the idea of free food too much to leave. Carole had even enlisted her to help cook Thanksgiving dinner, something Meg had never pictured herself doing.

"So, how long are you two going to stay?" Carole asked Meg.

Meg looked up from the loaf of French bread she had been slicing meticulously. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before thinking this over. She had no idea, as far as she knew they were still traveling toward the ocean.

"Not sure," she said. "Maybe Saturday or Sunday. Soon."

Carole nodded at this, leisurely stirring the stuffing on the stove. "So, how did you two meet?"

"Well, we met about… two years ago," Meg started, attempting to think of a story on the spot. "Of course we hated each other at first with us being… what we are. But, we've grown on each other since then."

This didn't seem to be the answer Carole had been looking for though. She gave Meg a dubious look before shaking her head, not pushing the subject further.

Carole had surprised them. At first impression she was an overly bubbly woman who got on everyone's nerves. After getting to know her she was actually bearable and a hell of a lot calmer. She was even likable in her own way, not that Meg would ever admit to liking a human.

"Thanksgiving is Carl's favorite holiday," Carole shared. "He loved that he could eat as much as wanted without being judged."

"I can't argue with that," Meg said.

The two women shared a smile and Carole placed a hand on Meg's arm. "Thank you for being here. Both of you."

"Sure," Meg said, not sure of what else to say.

They continued in silence until the front door opened. Meg put down the bread knife she had been using and went into the front room. Castiel walked into the inn, shrugging off his overcoat and balancing a parcel in his arms. Meg took the parcel from him and peeked inside.

"No Thanksgiving is complete without pumpkin pie," she hummed happily.

"You sound like Dean," Castiel said.

Meg froze, just her eyes moving to look at Castiel. His movements seemed to stumble for a moment before he shook his head, hanging his coat on the coat hanger.

"I'm going to put this in the kitchen," Meg said.

"After you do that I think we should talk," Castiel suggested, heading toward the staircase. "I'll be in our room."

She nodded and headed back to the kitchen. Carole was taking the turkey out of the oven and sliding the bread in now. Apparently she couldn't wait on Meg since the bread was sliced, buttered, and seasoned. Meg placed the pie on the far side of the counter.

"I'll be back in a couple of minutes," Meg said.

Carole nodded, giving her a knowing smile. Meg left the kitchen once again and headed up the stairs. She reached the honeymoon suite and opened the door to see Castiel putting on a necktie.

"You look nice," Meg praised.

"Thanksgiving is a formal holiday, isn't it?" he asked, straightening his tie.

"For some," Meg nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed. "So, what do you need to talk about?"

"Where we go from here," he said.

Meg assumed that their next move would be the topic of discussion. They had stayed here for much longer than they had intended to. Meg would be lying if she said she didn't like staying in one place for once in her life, but she knew that Castiel would probably want to leave.

"I've been thinking about our original plan to head to the ocean," he said. "It is a nice idea, but over the past few weeks I've… come to like it here."

Or maybe he didn't want to leave.

"What are you saying?" Meg asked.

"I think I would like to stay here," he said. "You can take the car and the money, I don't mind."

Meg stared at him for several long seconds. Her heart was fluttering in her chest for some reason and she was having trouble comprehending what he was saying.

"So, you want to stay, but you want me to leave?" she questioned.

"Well, you don't have to leave," he said quickly.

"Good," Meg nodded. "Because I'm staying too."

"Oh, well all right then," Castiel nodded.

An awkward silence was then strung out between them. They looked at each other, but then looked away quickly.

"I'm going to see if Carole needs any help," Castiel announced.

"And I'm going to change since you've decided to get all formal on me," Meg said.

Castiel left, closing the door behind him. Meg placed her hands on her knees and let out a sigh. She couldn't believe that he actually wanted to stay. For a second she thought he was going to go find his besties the Winchesters. He had surprised her though and she couldn't be happier that he had.

Meg quickly cleaned up and changed into a dress. The purple dress had been ruined by those witches, so she had bought a new one a week ago. After slipping into her heels, Meg placed her hands on the edge of the dresser and looked at her reflection. Usually she decided to look at the human face she had borrowed, but now she was looking at her true face. It was the face Castiel saw whenever he looked at her. She wasn't exactly fond of it, so with a blink of her eyes she was looking back at the beautiful human woman.

"Meg!" Carole shouted from downstairs. "These green beans aren't going to stir themselves!"

A small laugh escaped Meg's lips as she headed out of the room and downstairs. When she reached the kitchen she saw Carole stirring five things at once and Castiel carving the turkey. Meg perked an eyebrow at Castiel when she joined Carole at the stove.

"Well aren't you Mr. Multi-Talented?" she teased.

He gave her a confused look and she was about to explain what she meant when she shook her head.

"Never mind," Meg said. "So, are you telling her or am I?"

"Telling me what?" Carole asked.

"That we're going to continue staying here for a while," Castiel informed. "If that's all right with you."

Carole's response was to fling her arms around both Castiel and Meg, almost knocking over the cranberry sauce in the process.


	23. She

_085. She_

True to their word, Castiel and Meg continued to stay at the White Lily Inn. The honeymoon suite was now officially theirs without having to pay if they helped around the inn. This was fairly easy work considering that there was barely any business. It was hard to believe that it was still in business after all this time. According to Carole there was the occasional rush that would be fairly profitable, but they had yet to see one.

December had arrived and the small town was slowly starting to get covered in a blanket of snow. The scenery was very serene now that there weren't any witches around, making the entire town seem at ease. Of course the town citizens didn't know that there had been witches there, but to those who did it was a lot calmer.

After a day of cleaning out expired food in the kitchen pantry, Meg had decided to go upstairs and take a shower. Carole had been giving them the most ridiculous tasks over the time they had been staying. They weren't difficult, but a little annoying.

Meg climbed the stairs to the upstairs hallway. Once she walked down the hall to her room she heard the shower running. Carole was out shopping and their only guest had gone out hours ago. Castiel had beaten her to the shower. Groaning, Meg walked into their room to see the bathroom door closed with the light on.

As of late Castiel had started to embrace living like a human. He was wearing different clothes, taking regular showers, eating three meals a day, and she even saw him dozing off one day. She realized that he probably liked the easy life. His entire existence had been as an angel smiting everything in sight. Taking some time off was probably good for him.

Her want for a shower started to dwindle and Meg looked outside their window to see the Porsche in its permanent parking spot. It seemed sad that the car had rarely been used since they had stopped traveling. Since they were living in such a small town they just walked everywhere.

An idea started to creep in the back of her mind. The next big city couldn't be too far away. She hadn't had a night out in a while. It was board game night almost every night and she had missed going to bars and cheating guys out of their money at pool.

Before she could change her mind, Meg grabbed a pad of the inn stationary and scribbled down a quick note for Castiel. She left the note on the dresser and quickly changed her clothes before taking her purse and leaving the room. Meg dashed down the stairs, digging in her purse to find her car keys. Once in the parking lot she clicked the unlock button on the remote.

Meg opened the door to the Porsche and slipped inside, smiling fondly at the car. Despite Castiel coughing up blood inside of it, it was still in perfect condition. She put the key in the ignition, turned it, and put the car in reverse.

She didn't exactly know what she was looking for. A bar, most definitely, but she didn't know how far out she would go. It would be so easy to just drive off and never go back to that inn. She wanted to return though. For some reason that was completely beyond her, she wanted to go back and see Castiel and Carole.

Something had been happening to her lately. She had been reluctant to admit it, but she was beginning to like Castiel. Well, she had always had a soft spot for him, but now she was actually starting to _feel _something for him. It was terrifying beyond all belief. She knew nothing could come of it, but that didn't stop her from thinking.

After about thirty minutes of driving, Meg came across a decent-looking bar. It wasn't the classiest place in the world, but it wasn't run-down either. It would do just fine. She parked her car in the side lot. The bar seemed strange though. She could hear the loud chatter of bar activity inside, but there was barely anyone outside. It was like everyone was just staying in.

Dismissing this observation, Meg made her way into the bar and automatically wanted to leave. Once she opened the door she was greeted by the faces of about 20 demons. Of course it would be a demon bar.

"Oh, joy," Meg said bitterly, the door closing behind her. "My people."

"Well, look who it is," one demon said from behind the bar. "Meg, the traitor."

"What do you mean traitor?" Meg asked, her stomach twisting into knots. If they knew about Castiel it was all over.

"I recall you working with the Winchesters about a year ago," he said.

Oh, that. Well that was better than them knowing about Castiel. He wanted to stay hidden and she was doing everything in her will to make sure it stayed that way.

"Yeah, well I'm not anymore," Meg said.

"Obviously," another one snorted. "Where are your lackeys?"

"I've been flying solo for a while."

More than half of the demons had found their entertainment in something else. Apparently Meg's return was not something that monumental. She preferred it this way. The less attention she drew to herself, the better.

"Interesting verb usage," a girl at the bar said.

"What do you mean?" Meg asked, approaching the bar.

"'Flying'," the girl shrugged. "It's like you're trying to be a precious little angel or something."

"Oh," Meg said, tilting her head to the side. "Well that's obviously not what I meant."

"Of course," the demon nodded, turning back to her drink.

Nonetheless, Meg's heart was starting to pound. Just the mention of an angel was making her nervous. Right now she was more concerned for Castiel than she was for herself. And that was really saying something.

Leaving so soon would probably draw even more attention toward herself, but she didn't want to stick around. Heading straight back to the White Lily wasn't an option either. She never should have gone out in the first place. This was obviously a huge mistake.

Meg sat at the bar, trying to get some of the attention off of her. This seemed to be working until someone walked out of the door from the back room.

"Oh, look who it is," an all too familiar voice said. "Thanks for the tip, boys."

She hadn't thought that her heart could sink any further than it had before.

"Nice to see you again, whore," Crowley said in greeting.


	24. Work

_089. Work_

She was contemplating running. There was a slim chance that she would make it to the door in time, but she was willing to take that risk. Crowley wasn't going to let her out of this bar alive, so she could at least try to escape. Either that or she would definitely go down fighting. It really felt like this was the end of the line. She didn't have a chance.

"So, where have you been hiding?" Crowley asked, leaning against the bar from across her.

"I haven't been hiding," she said stiffly.

He nodded, completely unconvinced. Meg wasn't easily scared, but right now she was. Even though she had been alive for what felt like forever that didn't mean she wanted to die. Especially like this. This way of dying absolutely sucked.

"Then what have you been doing?" he asked.

"Traveling," Meg shrugged, staying as nonchalant as possible.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Not really."

Once again, Crowley nodded and Meg found herself becoming annoyed with him. Why couldn't he just kill her to get it over with? If he didn't know about Castiel then he had no reason to keep her alive. He should kill her and get it over with. So, what was he waiting for?

It didn't seem like he was going to kill her though. He seemed amused by the prospect of her. It was like she was a little plaything for him. Maybe he had decided to get some work out of her until he disposed her for good.

"You do realize that I should kill you, don't you?" Crowley asked.

"That's what I'm assuming," Meg said.

"I'm not going to kill you though," Crowley said, giving her a smirk. "I need something from you."

"And what's that?"

"Get some information for me."

Meg was beginning to grow impatient. She was relieved that he wasn't going to kill her (not yet anyway), but also peeved that he wouldn't just come out and say what he wanted. Nevertheless, she waited for him to share the details of the work he wanted her to do.

"Ever heard of Dick Roman?" he asked.

"The human politician?" Meg inquired. "Yeah, what about him?"

"He's a Leviathan," Crowley shared. "The one in charge, actually."

She was about to nod her head in understanding when she realized she wasn't supposed to know about Leviathans. She learned about them from Castiel and he wasn't supposed to be alive.

"He's a what?" Meg asked.

Crowley rolled his eyes, buying her story and finding her ignorance amusing. "Something that came out of purgatory. You do know what happened with purgatory, right?"

"The Winchester's angel opened it," Meg said.

"Right you are," Crowley nodded. "So, I want you to get information on this guy. Tell me what he's up to. And in exchange I won't kill you."

The offer might have seemed fair to Crowley, but not to Meg. Castiel had told her about the Leviathans and apparently they were harder to kill than angels. If she spied on them and got caught they would kill her in a heartbeat. She might as well ask Crowley to kill her now. But she didn't have any plans on dying so soon.

"Fine," she said. "I'll do it."

"Excellent," Crowley said. "Meet me back here in one week, same time."

This was obviously her dismissal cue. Meg stood up from the barstool and cautiously walked toward the door. Once she was in the parking lot, she placed a hand over her heart and felt it pounding in her chest. King of Hell or not, she still hated Crowley. He was an absolute bastard, throwing all of his power around.

Meg made her way to the Porsche and got inside. While she drove back to the inn her moves were almost robotic. She felt numb as thoughts swam in her head. Work was always nice to come by since it kept her busy, but she had just settled on something she liked to do.

She wasn't reluctant to admit it anymore. She _liked _staying at the White Lily with Castiel and Carole. She liked being lazy for a change. She liked that she didn't have to torture anymore.

Her life had taken a drastic change in the past few weeks. For once she was living life the way she wanted to and she was surprised by the human route she was taking.

Eventually she made it back to the White Lily. Meg stayed in the Porsche, looking at the inn. She had one more week until she was pushed back into demon work.

Opening the car door, Meg made her way to the inn to find it locked up for the night. She began fumbling with her key ring, looking for the front door key when a familiar whooshing sound greeted her.

"You weren't gone long."

Meg turned around to see Castiel standing there. He was smiling which just made her heart ache even more. Things were actually starting to turn out good and now it all sucked.

"I was bored," she shrugged, then gestured toward the porch swing. "Wanna sit?"

He nodded in response. They sat down on the swing and gently started to move back and forth. There wasn't any talking, but there didn't really need to be. She wasn't going to tell him. It wasn't because of what he might do, but because of what he might not do.

If he stood up for her and tried to help her out then his cover would be blown. If he didn't do anything then that would hurt. That would hurt a lot more than she was willing to admit.

"This is nice," Castiel said suddenly, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Swinging?" Meg asked, perking an eyebrow at him.

"Well, yes," he said. "But just being here. I like not having to worry about my responsibilities. About all of the work that I always have to finish."

"Yeah, but it's going to get boring after a while," Meg pointed out.

"I don't think it will," he said. "But I'll have to stop hiding eventually. I'll have to own up to all that I have done."

A long silence was then stretched between them. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't exactly welcome either. The only sound was coming from the creak of the swing as they moved back and forth.

"I hope that you will be by my side when that day comes."

She had to do a double take after that. Meg looked at him as he continued to stare straight ahead. She didn't know what he was implying, but it made her happy nonetheless.

"I look forward to it," she said.


	25. Black

_018. Black_

The week went by a lot faster than she would have liked. Castiel and Carole were completely indifferent to everything since they had no idea that she was leaving. She wasn't sure how she was going to slip away unnoticed, but she was hoping on Castiel taking another shower and Carole going out shopping.

Meg had never been that good at goodbyes. She didn't want to have to go through with that. But just leaving so abruptly didn't seem the way to go either. Maybe she could say something that counted as a goodbye without them knowing that.

It was getting close to the time that Crowley had instructed her to meet him. Thankfully Carole had gone out shopping and Castiel had offered to go with her to help. Meg had been instructed to man the front desk while they were gone. Of course she wasn't doing that though.

Meg hastily stuffed all of her belongings into her black duffle bag as quickly as she could. There was no telling how long they would be gone, but with Castiel helping Carole it wouldn't take as long as usual. After packing a few more additional things, Meg was heading to the door of the honeymoon suite.

She looked back at the room, a feeling of uneasiness overcoming her. Maybe when the whole thing with Crowley blew over she could come back. She doubted that Castiel would still be there, but that didn't stop her from hoping.

If there was one thing Meg wasn't good at, it was staying put. Maybe she had been deluding herself into thinking that she could with the inn. She thought that she could stay low and play house with an angel. Obviously that wasn't going to work. Meg was leaving the White Lily Inn for the black-filled life of a demon. Usually she would have been okay with this, but not now.

Castiel had changed her. She hated to admit it, but he had. He had changed her into someone who was starting to care. A demon that was starting to care about an angel.

Meg hurried out of the inn and to her car. She opened the trunk and placed the duffle bag in before closing it again. Meg was just about to head to the driver's side when a hand clamped down on her shoulder and turned her around.

She should have known that they would catch her.

Carole had her arms full of groceries, standing uncertainly on the front porch. Castiel was in front of her, his hand still planted firmly on her shoulder.

"Carole, could you please give Meg and me a moment alone?" Castiel asked.

"Sure," Carole said, her voice trailing off slightly.

She continued to stand on the porch, looking at the pair. Castiel turned his head around to face her and apparently the look he gave her was enough for her to head inside. Once the door was shut behind her, Castiel turned back around to face Meg.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Just out," Meg shrugged, trying to keep her voice carefree.

"And you need all of your possessions for going out?" he inquired.

Meg opened her mouth to argue before realizing that she didn't have anything to say. So, she closed her mouth and gave him a shrug.

"Fine, you caught me," she said. "I'm leaving. You said before that I could take the car and go. That's what I'm doing."

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

This was hurting a lot more than she had thought it would. Lying usually came easily to her, but not today. Now she was almost positive that he didn't believe her. The delivery of her lie hadn't exactly been that solid. Castiel was smart; he probably knew that there was something up.

"Meg, if you're in any sort of trouble-," Castiel started.

"Well, I am!" Meg shouted. "I'm in trouble by staying here with you. I don't know what has come over me, but I've come to my senses. Shacking up with you is an idiotic choice. You're an angel, I'm a demon. How the hell could it ever work?"

To prove her point, Meg blinked, her eyes turning completely black. Castiel was looking at her with confusion in his eyes.

"You can see my real face, you know what I've done, and you kill my kind!" Meg yelled, feeling like she couldn't stop. "How the hell are we supposed to work, Castiel?"

"You don't mean that," he said softly.

He landed a blow to her heart with that one. She was suffering a minor setback. Meg began to open and close her mouth, trying to find her footing again. It was hard though.

It was obvious that he was seeing right through her. He knew something was up and he was just waiting for him to inform him so that he could help.

"I do," she said with much less venom this time. "Why do you think so differently, Castiel?"

"Because you used my real name," he said matter-of-factly.

Her heart wasn't supposed to be beating as quickly as it was. Light headedness probably wasn't supposed to happen either.

But as Castiel moved a hand to the back of her neck and moved closer to her, she felt those things start to take effect. His lips were just a breath away from hers and she was more than ready to accept them.

She couldn't though.

"Just stop it," Meg said, turning her head away.

Castiel's lips came in contact with her cheek and she tried to ignore the spark that grew there.

"I'm leaving and you can't stop me," she said, ducking away from him.

Without turning to face him, Meg opened the driver's side door and got in. Before she could change her mind, Meg started the car, and pulled out of the parking space.

She was just about to turn off onto the main road when she looked back at him through her rearview mirror. It was safe to say that she had never seen anyone so broken before.


	26. Abomination

_097. Abomination_

Meg arrived at the bar right on time. It was exactly the same time that she had arrived there a week ago. She had done everything right.

So why did it feel so wrong?

She wanted nothing more than to run away from this bar and go back to the inn. That wasn't an option though. Meg knew what she had to do.

Exiting the Porsche, Meg made her way to the demon bar. She opened the front door and was greeted by only the bartender and Crowley sitting at the bar. Crowley smirked at her arrival and waved for her to join him. Meg closed the door behind her and made her way to the bar, sitting down next to him.

"Drink?" Crowley offered, gesturing toward the bartender.

"I'll pass," Meg said.

Crowley gave a dismissive nod to the bartender and he left through the backroom. Meg sat awkwardly next to him, shifting in her seat, waiting for him to say something. He didn't say anything though. Crowley continued to enjoy his drink, humming to himself. She was fighting the urge to punch him in the face. He wanted her here and now he wasn't even saying anything.

"So?" Meg said after some time. "Are you going to give me any information on this Dick guy?"

"Right down to business, huh?" he mused, finishing his drink in one gulp. "As I said before, Dick Roman is the leader of the Leviathans. I've talked to him briefly and he's been less than… welcoming. I need someone to find out what he's up to."

"How do you expect me to do that?" Meg asked. "You said that Leviathans are more powerful than angels."

"No I didn't," Crowley said, his eyes darting toward her.

"What?" Meg inquired, her heart giving an involuntary lurch.

"I only told you that Leviathans came out of purgatory," Crowley said, looking at her like she was actually something of interest.

"Well, I did some research," Meg lied.

He seemed to consider this option for a moment. Crowley watched her carefully for several long moments before shaking his head.

"If you just did some research, then why is your heart beating so fast?" Crowley asked.

This was obviously a rhetorical question. Crowley stood up and snapped his fingers. All of the doors leading into the bar opened and demons came spilling into the room.

"Who have you been talking to, Meg?" Crowley asked.

"No one," she said quickly. "I just researched a bit. I haven't talked to anyone."

"Why don't I believe you?" he asked.

She was really beginning to hate rhetorical questions. This really looked like the end though. There was no way she was going to make it out of there alive. Crowley probably thought that she was talking to a bunch of hunters. An angel was the last thing on his mind, but if he found out about the inn it was all over. She should have let Castiel kiss her. At least she would have that to think of.

But she wouldn't have to think about that though.

The front door to the bar opened and there he stood. Castiel had come to her rescue and she honestly had never felt so relieved. The demons, on the other hand, were obviously not relieved. Meg looked at Crowley to see him looking completely baffled by his appearance.

"I suggest all of you except Crowley leave," Castiel said.

None of them needed to be told twice. The demons flooded out of the bar with surprising speed. Crowley remained rooted to the spot while Meg felt the corners of her lips twitch upward.

"You're supposed to be dead," Crowley said.

"Obviously I'm not," Castiel said, walking toward the bar and placing a hand on the back of Meg's stool.

Crowley looked from Castiel to Meg and back again. His eyebrows darted up and he looked at the two of them disbelievingly.

"You two are working together?" he asked incredulously.

"No," Castiel said. "We're not working, just staying together."

This seemed to be even harder for Crowley to believe. He seemed amused by the idea, but decided to keep this to himself.

"So, unless you want me to kill you, Crowley, you should leave Meg and me alone," Castiel said.

"Right," Crowley nodded, still looking more amused than threatened. "I don't understand how the Winchesters are all right with this."

Castiel stiffened at these words. Meg turned her head around to look at him. His face hadn't changed, but it was obvious that was one thing he didn't want to talk about.

"They don't know," he said.

"I figured," Crowley shrugged. "They do know that you're alive, don't they?"

"That has nothing to do with you."

"Oh, so they don't know?" Crowley mused.

The conversation had obviously turned in Crowley's favor. Meg could sense that Castiel was becoming more uncomfortable as the talking continued. She stood up and went to Castiel's side, putting a hand on his arm.

"Let's go," she said.

Both Castiel and Crowley looked at the hand she had placed on his arm. Castiel looked at her and she moved her head toward the door.

"Remember to keep quiet about this, Crowley," Castiel reminded.

"How could I forget?" he said teasingly.

Castiel and Meg left the bar and walked in silence toward the Porsche. She didn't argue when he got into the driver's side. They continued in silence all the way back to the White Lily inn. Meg felt like a teenager driving home with her dad in the car after he picked her up from a party. For once she felt like she really was below him.

He parked the car, but made no movement to get out. Meg sat there as well, hoping that he would talk eventually.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"I didn't want Crowley to find out about you," she said. "I figured it would be best if I just left you and you thought of me as the 'abomination' that I am."

"I don't think that little of you," Castiel assured. "Compared to those other demons, you're not an abomination."

"And why's that?" she asked.

"Because I can't see your real face anymore," Castiel explained. "It happened around Thanksgiving time. I looked at you and I saw the face of a human, not a demon."

"Why did it change?"

"I don't think of you as an abomination, Meg," he said. "I know you're a demon, but you're not like the rest. You're a lot more human."

She couldn't believe that he had just said that. The fact that he can only see her meatsuit's face now meant something. She wasn't exactly sure what it meant, but she knew that it was a big deal.


	27. Friends

_021. Friends_

Things had been more than awkward around the inn lately. Carole wasn't completely oblivious to what had happened between them. She knew that something was different, but didn't press the subject any further. Carole probably just thought of it as a lovers quarrel.

This worked just fine for Meg who was avoiding Castiel at all costs. Even though he hadn't done anything to make her feel uncomfortable, Meg was starting to feel extremely insecure about everything he did. Especially since he was now looking at her a lot more than usual. Before he would always look at her with discomfort, but now he was _really _looking at her.

Castiel had been able to see past her demon face and was now looking at the face of the human she was occupying. This was great for Meg since she felt that the ground was even now. She had no idea what Castiel truly looked like (and didn't want to since she valued her eyesight). All she saw was the face of a man who she had come to associate with him and now he had the same for her.

The thought was nice, but in reality it was starting to get a little unnerving. Now he was always making eye contact and staring at her whenever she was talking. Carole had apparently picked up on this change and had discussed it with Meg one day.

"It's like he's looking at you in a completely new light," Carole had said excitedly. "Maybe he's falling in love with you all over again."

Meg had brushed this comment off easily enough, but it just kept getting brought up and he wouldn't stop staring. It was actually starting to get on her nerves.

The two of them were playing Scrabble in the dining room. Carole had left the inn in their care for a week while she went off to a Bed and Breakfast conference. Meg was still surprised that those things actually existed.

Meg was looking at the tiles in front of her before looking at the game board. Once her eyes went to the part of the board closest to Castiel, she noticed that he was staring at her.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Meg said, arranging her tiles on the board to make the word "friends".

"What?" he asked, apparently brought out of his staring daze.

"You've been staring, Clarence," she said. "Ever since you told me that you only see my meatsuit's face, you've been staring. I wasn't going to say anything, but you're pretty persistent about it."

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said. "I'm just trying to get used to it. It's strange seeing you with a human face, oddly fitting, but strange."

"Should I say thank you to that?" Meg asked.

"Only if you want to," he said.

They continued to play Scrabble in comfortable silence with Castiel not staring as much. Meg was reaching into the pouch to pull out more tiles when the calendar on the wall caught her attention.

"Christmas is two weeks from today," she stated.

"You know that's not the real birth of Christ," Castiel informed.

"I know," Meg assured. "So, do angels celebrate Christmas?"

"No, we don't do a lot of celebrating."

"Neither do demons."

Meg played a word, Castiel added up her points; she was actually in the lead.

"I bet Carole will want to celebrate," Meg said. "This is her first Christmas without Carl and we're all she's got."

"That's true," Castiel nodded. "Should we agree to buy each other presents? For show?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

The silence had gone from comfortable to awkward in a matter of minutes. They continued to play Scrabble and add up points, neither of them making too many comments.

Meg was fiddling with her tiles, trying to think of a good word to play when she really took note of what they were doing. They were playing Scrabble and living together and agreeing to buy each other a Christmas present. To anyone else they probably seemed like a couple, but to her she was beginning to see that they were actually _friends_.

At first she had been using him for insurance, for her own personal gain, but now she wasn't using him for anything. She still wasn't sure what he felt toward her, but she knew that it wasn't disgust or hatred. Some days she thought that he actually liked her. She liked him regardless. It scared her sometimes how much she liked him.

Their game of Scrabble was soon interrupted though. The bell above the front door sounded and they both looked at each other in surprise. The inn rarely got any business and with Carole gone for a week, there was no way this was going to end well.

Castiel and Meg stood up from the table and made their way to the front room from the dining room. A man stood in front of the reception desk. He was looking at the cork board of Polaroids, his eyes were squinted as he observed each photo.

"Hello," Meg greeted, feeling awkward doing the job without Carole.

"Hi," he said gruffly, squinting at both Castiel and Meg.

"Are you checking in?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied with a nod.

"How long will you be staying?" Castiel asked, flipping through the guestbook and grabbing a pen.

"Depends," the man said.

Meg met Castiel's eyes and it was obvious that they both felt an eye roll coming. This guy was weird, but that usually was the norm with the White Lily. Not a lot of normal people stayed there.

"Would you like to book two nights and see how it goes from there?" Meg suggested.

The man then thought about this for a lot longer than necessary. He tapped his chin with his finger and looked thoughtfully at Meg. Girls would probably feel uncomfortable under his stare, but Meg just looked back at him, completely unaffected.

"Yeah, two nights will be fine," he nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet.

Meg quickly assigned the man a room while Castiel took a picture for the board. While he was signing the still-developing Polaroid, Meg spotted a gun inside of his jacket. She tensed up slightly, just enough to get Castiel's attention. Castiel gave her an inquiring look and she glanced toward the man's jacket. His eyes went to the gun and he straightened up, moving closer to the man.

"May I ask why you have a gun?" Castiel asked.

The man, whose name was Marcus Montgomery according to his credit card, looked at Castiel before closing his jacket tightly around him.

"Just a precaution," he said stiffly.

"A precaution for what?" Meg asked.

He gave her a toothy grin before snatching the keys to his room. "Girl, you have no idea what goes bump in the night."

Without another word he walked up the stairs, a bottle of salt almost slipping out of his back pocket as he went.


	28. Children

_028. Children_

Marcus Montgomery was probably the worst hunter Meg had ever seen. It didn't have to do with watching him hunt or observing his technique (she had never seen him actually hunt before). It had everything to do with the fact that there was an angel and a demon right under his nose and he didn't even notice.

It was almost comical. Meg had been in the kitchen one day and had accidentally spilled some salt on her wrist. It began to sting and burn just as Marcus walked in. He took one look at her wrist, then at the salt. Marcus then proceeded to ask if she was all right and if she had touched a hot burner on accident.

Either Marcus didn't care that she was a demon or he had the IQ of a small child. She had yet to decide which one of these was correct.

His two days had extended though. He had been staying there for over a week. Carole had come back a few days ago and had been putting Castiel and Meg to work by decorating the inn for Christmas. Meg actually enjoyed doing it so she could laugh at the disgusted looks Castiel gave the stuffed Santas.

Marcus had been out more than he had been in. Meg assumed that he was out hunting something, but she didn't think it would last more than a week. Maybe he didn't want to be alone for Christmas or maybe he had the tracking skills of a child. She wasn't sure about that either.

Another thing Meg wasn't sure about was what to get Castiel for Christmas. They had decided to buy each other presents to please Carole, but it wasn't really going her way. Carole had been easy to shop for. Meg had bought her a scarf and a pair of gaudy snowflake earrings Meg knew she would love.

Castiel was an entirely different story. What was a demon supposed to buy for her angel friend (it was still strange to call him that) who hated the human interpretation of Christmas? A new coat? An angel sword sharpener?

So, she tried to think of what she would buy for Castiel the human. This didn't work either. Castiel had zero interest in human things other than food. Besides, Carole thought that they were madly in love so she needed to buy something that reflected that.

"What are you getting your sweetie?" Carole asked, approaching Meg who was currently hanging up tinsel.

"I'm not sure yet," Meg said.

"Well, Christmas is less than a week away," Carole said, then clasped her hands together in excitement. "Oh, I'll help you! Let's go out for lunch and then go shopping. I already bought him something, but-."

"Wait, what?" Meg asked, the tinsel slipping through her hands as she turned in surprise. "What did you get him?"

"Books," Carole shrugged. "I went to a bookstore and asked them where all of the brainy and theory books were. You've got yourself a smart one."

_Books._ Of course Castiel would like books. He was always using ridiculous words when they played Scrabble. They had to break out the dictionary at least ten times per game, if not more. As a leader in Heaven and a friend of the Winchesters, Castiel never got any downtime. Now that he was staying at the most boring inn to ever exist, he had plenty of time to read. And he _did _seem like a book reader.

"Well, that's a good idea," Meg said, picking up the tinsel she had dropped.

"You probably want to give him something more personal though," Carole assured.

Carole then left, heading toward the staircase. She was at the foot of the stairs when Carole turned back around, giving Meg a worried look.

"Oh, and watch out for that Marcus Montgomery," she said in a hushed tone. "I don't trust him."

"I will," Meg nodded.

Meg was happy that Carole was smarter than Marcus. She obviously didn't know that he was a hunter, but she knew that there was something wrong with him. Meg continued to hang the tinsel when she realized that she had a lunch and shopping date with Carole. It was the strangest thing Meg had ever done before. Back when she was a human she went on lunch dates all of the time, but now the thought seemed ridiculous.

It also seemed appealing though. It _had _been a while and she kind of missed have a fellow female to talk to.

She finished up with the tinsel and went upstairs to change for lunch. She opened the door to the honeymoon suite to see Castiel quickly shove something into his duffle bag. They stared at each other; Meg looking skeptical and Castiel appearing to be quite nervous.

"So, what's in the bag?" Meg asked.

"Nothing of importance," he said quickly, his eyes darting toward the bag on the bed.

"Oh, then you won't mind if I just look inside," Meg said with a light shrug.

Meg made her way toward the bed, sat down, and grabbed the strap of the bag. His eyes went to her hand on the strap and then to her. She was grinning as she looked up at him. His nervousness was almost comical.

It all ended though when Meg began to reach inside the bag and his hand coiled around her wrist. She looked up at him and he appeared to be as surprised as she was. Castiel looked at her and then quickly dropped her wrist.

"Um, please don't look in there," he said.

"I thought you said it was nothing of importance," Meg said.

"I thought that if I said that you would leave it alone."

Castiel sat on the bed next to her and zipped up the duffle bag before placing it on the floor.

"Why wouldn't you want me to look inside?"

This was one side of Castiel she didn't see often. He was hesitant and nervous and maybe even a little embarrassed. Meg couldn't help but smile at his sheepish look as he scratched the back of his neck.

"It's your Christmas present," he said finally.

"Oh, well then I-," she started.

The door to the room then swung open and Marcus jumped inside.

"A-ha!" he yelled, aiming a salt shaker directly at Castiel. "I've got you now! For the past week I've been on your trail, demon."

Meg was actually about to be impressed that he had picked up on her. That was until he started shaking the salt onto Castiel. The salt of course didn't affect him and Castiel looked blankly at Marcus.

"What are you doing?" Castiel asked.

Marcus looked at Castiel before shaking salt once more onto him. Nothing happened and Marcus started to shift uncomfortably on his feet.

"Uh, sorry," he said. "That was supposed to… I mean I was so _sure _this time…"

His voice started to trail off and he shook his head before leaving the room. As soon as the door was closed, Meg and Castiel faced each other. Meg started laughing loudly while Castiel attempted to suppress a smile.

"It's a good thing he's not a very observant hunter," Castiel said.

"He's like a child," Meg chuckled, standing up from the bed.

Castiel's eyes followed her as she stood up and made her way to the closet. She was picking out a shirt to wear on her outing with Carole, feeling his eyes on her.

"Well, I'm going out with Carole," Meg announced, turning around after she had found a shirt. "Think you can handle a hunter all by yourself?"

"I'll manage."

Meg nodded, standing awkwardly in front of him. She knew that she should head to the bathroom to change, but something was keeping her in the room. It was like she couldn't look at him without being rooted to the spot.

He was the one to break the gaze, standing from the bed and heading toward the door. "I'll leave you to get ready."

The door closed behind him on the way out and Meg collapsed onto the bed. Pushing away all of these feelings she was having for him was starting to be impossible. Just one look from him was turning her into a giant ball of goo and it wasn't her style.

Meg quickly changed and was brushing her hair when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Meg said.

The door opened to reveal Carole. She walked into the room and was about to sit on the bed when she thought against it. Meg gave her a questioning look.

"I'm not sure I want to sit there," Carole said teasingly. "I know what happens behind closed doors."

That statement would have made Meg feel disgusted a few years ago. Now it just made her feel embarrassed. Embarrassed? What _was _he turning her into?

"I'm almost ready to go," Meg informed, trying to change the subject.

But Carole apparently had no interest in changing the subject.

"I never had children," she said.

Meg was about to ask what that had to do with Castiel and Meg's fake sex life when an uneasy feeling settled inside of her. She hoped that Carole wasn't thinking of going there.

"I mean, you both are still young enough," Carole continued, seemingly unable to stop talking. "You _definitely _are, Meg. You're still in your twenties, aren't you? Oh, you two should really consider children. A baby with your curls and Castiel's eyes would just be so beautiful."

Within the past 20 seconds Meg's left eye had started to twitch on its own. The mere thought of children was nauseating, but an angel-demon baby was even worse.

"No," Meg said once she remembered how to talk again. "Just, no. Carole, in case you've forgotten, Castiel and I can't have children. Like, we physically _cannot_ have children. And I don't want kids and that kid would just be…"

She trailed off, completely incapable of describing how wrong that would be. Judging by Carole's expression she was thinking about how wrong it would be too.

"Sometimes I just forget that you two are... so different," Carole said. "Just forget I mentioned it. Let's go have a nice lunch and get your sweetie a present."

Meg nodded quickly, grabbing her purse, and following Carole out of the honeymoon suite. She really hoped that there wouldn't be any crying babies at the restaurant.


	29. Brown

_017. Brown_

With Christmas only a few days away, the atmosphere around the inn had changed drastically. Carole had been baking everything imaginable, trays of sweets were now always present in every room. Marcus had apparently given up on "hunting" Castiel and was getting into the Christmas spirit as well. They had even acquired a few more guests.

People were coming into town for Christmas. They were getting what Carole called the "leftover guests". All of the commercial hotels were fully booked, so the White Lily was getting all of the guests who had waited too long to get reservations. Nevertheless, the guests were all cheerful due to the Christmas atmosphere, none of them agitated by having to stay in a cramped B&B.

It seemed that everyone was buzzing with excitement for the big day. Everyone except for Castiel and Meg. Since the inn had been busier than usual Carole had been putting them to work. Before life at the inn had been lazy and boring. Now they were doing work from early in the morning to late evening. Meg had no idea as to how Carole and Carl had managed it by themselves before.

With all of the busywork, Meg was having trouble trying to find time to wrap Castiel's present. She didn't know if he would like it or not. When Meg had gone shopping with Carole it had taken her almost ten shops and till nighttime to find a good present. Currently the present was in the bottom of her duffle bag which she had shoved under the bed in their room.

The present Castiel had gotten Meg was under the Christmas tree in the front room. It was in a smallish box and perfectly wrapped in shiny red paper. When no one was looking, Meg would grab the present from under the tree and shake it. It didn't make a sound though and it was relatively light. Sometimes she wondered if there was anything in there other than tissue paper.

Christmas Eve was tomorrow and the inn had quieted down considerably. It was approaching 10 o'clock at night and Meg was finally making her way back up to her room. Carole had recruited Castiel to help her with some last minute things in the kitchen. Meg knew that Carole really didn't need any help, but was just giving Meg some time to wrap Castiel's present.

Once she reached the honeymoon suite she closed the door behind her and went to the bed. Reaching under it, she grabbed the duffle bag and placed it on top of the bed. She headed to the closet and opened it up, standing on her tip toes to reach the top shelf where she had hidden wrapping materials.

Meg went back to the bed and placed the present inside a brown box with tissue paper before taping it shut. This seemed to be the right time to do it too. The door to the suite opened and Castiel came in, shaking frosting from his hair.

"What happened to you?" Meg asked as she finished taping the last side of the box.

"Carole," he said shortly.

"I figured, but I'd like some specifics," Meg said.

"She asked me to help her make some frosting for the cake she made earlier," he explained, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Apparently taking the mixer out of the frosting before you turn it off has negative results."

It was hard for Meg to suppress her laugh. She placed her hand against her mouth before getting off the bed and heading into the bathroom. Taking a washcloth from the cabinet next to the sink, Meg turned on the faucet. Once the water was warm she soaked the washcloth before ringing it out to make sure it wasn't dripping.

When Meg reentered the bedroom she saw Castiel investigating the present she had been in the process of wrapping. She sat back down on the bed next to him and he quickly put down the box.

"You're not going to find out what that is until Christmas," Meg said, pushing the box to the head of the bed.

Castiel nodded and reached for the washcloth in her hands. Meg recoiled away from him though. He gave her a questioning look and she shook her head before starting to wash the frosting from his hair. Castiel tensed slightly, but soon relaxed when she ran her fingers soothingly through his short dark hair.

"Thank you," he said, meeting her eyes.

"Don't mention it," Meg shrugged, continuing to clean his hair.

They sat in silence for a few moments. Meg's focus was on his hair, but Castiel was looking at her face. He seemed to be studying every feature of it.

"You're eyes are brown," he stated.

"Yeah, pretty boring compared to yours," Meg said, trying to clean out a rather large clump.

"I like them," he said.

Meg shifted her attention from his hair to him. He was giving her one of his intense stares. She was used to them by now, but had never had to see one that close before.

"Oh, well thanks, I guess," Meg said, bringing her attention back to his hair.

"Meg, why are you doing this?"

"Because I don't want you getting frosting on Carole's pillowcases."

"You misunderstand," Castiel said, taking her wrist and bringing her hand away from his hair. "Why are you still here?"

The question caught her off guard. His hand was holding her wrist and he was still looking at her intently, waiting for an answer. She could tell him a lie. She could always say that she liked staying here, that she was tired of running, or that she still needed an angel bodyguard.

For once Meg elected to tell the truth instead.

"Because I like you," she confessed.

Now she had caught him off guard. Castiel moved away from her a little, his eyes squinting, and his mouth gaping open. She would have appreciated the look if she hadn't just told him that.

"Oh," he finally said. "Oh, well that's-."

"Just forget it," Meg cut in. "It's no big deal."

Before he could say anything else, Meg took the brown box and the rest of her wrapping supplies. She headed toward the door and looked back at him on the bed.

"I'm going to go finish this downstairs," she said, exiting the room and closing the door sharply behind her.


	30. Snow

_067. Snow_

"Aren't you just so excited?"

Meg turned to look at Carole who was practically bubbling with joy. It was Christmas Eve and the inn was relatively empty since their guests were staying with family members that night. Despite it being empty Carole's enthusiasm filled up the entire inn. It was as if all of her excitement had been waiting to burst at this exact moment.

"I guess," Meg shrugged. "It's just Christmas."

Carole's face faltered for a moment and her expression slowly changed. It went from one of supreme happiness to slightly shocked.

"Just Christmas?" Carole echoed. "Meg, Christmas is my favorite holiday. There's giving and food and desserts and friends and family…"

Her voice trailed off at the end and Meg tried not to wince. Carl was still a soft spot. He had practically been Carole's only family and now he was gone.

"I'm sure that it will be great," Meg assured.

Carole gave a sad smile and placed a hand on Meg's arm. "Don't you ever let him go. It's the worst feeling in the world."

Meg nodded and Carole headed back into the kitchen to continue baking. Sometimes Meg felt awful for lying to Carole. She wasn't madly in love with Castiel and he didn't feel that way about her either. But Carole believed that they were, so they had to put up the act.

She returned to the upstairs hallway to see Marcus leaving his room. He was dragging a suitcase behind him. When he noticed Meg he gave her a smile.

"I'm checking out," he said. "My mom called, said she wants me in for Christmas after all."

"Carole's downstairs, she can check you out," Meg informed.

"Gotcha," Marcus nodded before heading down the hallway to the stairs. "Merry Christmas!"

"Yeah, you too," Meg said after him.

Meg was just a few steps in front of the honeymoon suite when the door to the room opened. Castiel was stepping out of the room and shrugging on his overcoat. She stopped in the middle of the hallway, folding her arms across her chest.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Just outside," he said. "It's snowing."

"You're going outside because it's snowing?" Meg inquired, perking an eyebrow.

"Well, yes."

She nodded slowly, still giving him a questioning look. Castiel looked back at her, returning her look. They stayed in the hallway just looking at each other when Castiel broke the silence.

"Would you like to join me?"

Something warm started to swirl inside of her stomach, but she quickly disregarded it. Meg nodded in confirmation and made her way into the honeymoon suite. Castiel leaned against the doorframe as he watched her get her jacket and boots. Neither of them was bothered by the cold, but they wanted to keep up appearances.

They headed downstairs just as Marcus was saying goodbye to Carole at the front desk. Marcus was heading toward the front door with Castiel and Meg right behind him.

"Where do you two think you're going?" Carole asked.

"To watch the snow," Castiel said.

Carole gave him the same questioning look that Meg had given him before. This time Castiel and Meg just gave her grins before heading outside.

Marcus was already getting in his car to drive away and they watched him go. They sat down on the porch swing and started to rock back and forth as the snow fell.

"This is kind of nice," Meg said.

"It's peaceful," Castiel commented.

Meg nodded in agreement as they continued to swing. The snow wasn't sticking to the ground, but it was still picturesque. The small town was beginning to fall asleep, the lights of shops and houses blinking out one by one. Christmas was tomorrow and Meg was still anxious about the gift giving thing. Carole was no problem, but when it came to Castiel she was actually nervous. What did he get her? What if he didn't like what she had gotten him?

These thoughts were currently occupying her mind, so she didn't notice that Castiel's attention had shifted from the snow to her. It began with him looking at her from the corner of his eye to just turning his head to look at her. Since his staring wasn't getting her attention like it usually did, he decided to speak up.

"I'd like to discuss what you told me the other night," he said.

Meg turned her head to look at him and gave a small jump to see him staring right at her.

"What about it?" Meg asked, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"You didn't really explain what you meant," he said. "You left very abruptly after telling me that you… liked me."

"Well, it's a little awkward to say," she explained. "I'm a demon, you're an angel. We're supposed to hate each other, not like each other."

"I don't hate you," Castiel said under his breath.

Despite everything Meg found herself smiling at that statement. She was actually _smiling _because he didn't hate her.

"I'm just having trouble understanding why you like me," he said.

Meg looked at him intently for a few moments before sighing in defeat. There was no way out of it; she was going to have to tell him.

"I like spending time with you," she started. "I like being by your side. At first you were great to have around because just your presence made people scared. It's different now. You're great to have around because I like having you here."

She finished it with a shrug to make it seem like it was no big deal. It actually was a pretty big deal, but she didn't want Castiel to see it that way. Maybe the shrug wasn't needed though, because Castiel took one of her hands in his and looked at her earnestly.

"Well, in that case, I like you as well," he said.

For some reason Meg's heart skipped a beat. She ignored it though and chose to just smile at Castiel.


	31. Christmas

_092. Christmas_

The day had finally come. All of Carole's careful planning of decorating and cooking and present wrapping had finally paid off. Christmas was here and Carole was buzzing with excitement. The inn was empty except for Carole, Castiel, and Meg since all of the guests had gone out to join their families for Christmas.

It was nice having the inn back to normal. Quiet and calm suited it much more than hectic and crowded. The floorboards weren't creaking under the weight of people bustling around and no one was complaining about the water in the shower going cold.

It was Christmas morning and Meg found herself being woken up by a stream of light darting into her eyes. She had actually fallen asleep, something she hadn't remembered doing in _years_. The bed in the honeymoon suite was actually ridiculously comfortable. Maybe she should sleep more often.

These thoughts of acquiring a normal sleep schedule were interrupted when she heard a soft groan come from beside her. Meg turned her head to see Castiel lying next to her. His eyes were closed, but squeezed tight, obviously not accepting the fact that it was time to wake up. Short dark hair was sticking in a weird direction and there was a pattern on his cheek from the indent of his pillow.

Meg suppressed a laugh as his eyes opened slightly. Blue eyes blinked at her and he smiled. He actually _smiled _at her. A familiar warm feeling started to spread inside of her stomach, but as usual she ignored it.

"Morning," she greeted.

"Good morning," he said in turn.

Their eyes continued to be locked until Castiel looked at the end of the bed. Meg followed his gaze to see their legs tangled together in the sheets. Her head was resting on his forearm while his free arm was lying on top of her waist. It was surprisingly comfortable.

They didn't even have the chance to figure out if they wanted to separate or not when the door to the room opened. Carole came marching in only to stop after a few steps.

"Oh, sorry to interrupt," she said, backing away toward the door. "Come down for breakfast soon."

She gave them a knowing smile before closing the door behind her. Meg turned her head to look at Castiel whose eyes were still trained on hers.

"Breakfast sounds good," she said.

"Agreed," he nodded.

They both got out of bed at the same time. Meg pulled a sweater over the tank top she had fallen asleep in, keeping her pajama pants on. Castiel looked at her questioningly.

"Aren't you going to get dressed?" he asked.

"Clarence, it's Christmas morning," Meg stated. "No one gets dressed for Christmas morning. What you're wearing is more than fine."

And it was. He had actually fallen asleep in something other than slacks and a button down shirt. He was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants that hung loosely on his hips. (Of course when they went shopping all of those months ago she had no idea that they would hang like that. Nope. She really hadn't had the slightest idea.)

"Are you sure?" he asked, following her out of the room and down the hall.

"Don't worry, Clarence, you look fine," she assured.

They entered the kitchen to see Carole busy making waffles. She turned her head to see them enter and instantly pointed to the coffee and tea pots on the counter. Meg poured coffee into a mug while Castiel poured tea into a mug for himself.

"So, presents?" Meg asked, taking a sip of coffee.

"After breakfast," Carole said firmly, taking a golden brown waffle from the iron and placing it on top of the stack of waffles. "Now set the table while I warm up the syrup."

Castiel and Meg didn't complain as they went to the cabinets and got plates and silverware. They went to the dining room and started setting the table for three.

Secretly, Meg was relieved that they weren't opening presents until later. She was still worried about Castiel liking his present or not. Actually she couldn't imagine him getting excited about any kind of present. But if he absolutely hated it she wasn't sure what she would do.

Breakfast was short and simple. Carole's cinnamon waffles were warm and delicious and no one felt guilty about going back for seconds (or thirds). After eating they all cleaned up the kitchen and headed to the sitting room. Carole sat in Carl's armchair while Castiel and Meg occupied the loveseat.

Carole was sharing favorite Christmas memories while Castiel listened intently. Meg had begun listening, but ended up zoning out. It was still so strange, staying at the inn. Every day she was always surprised as to how she fit in so well with the calm life. It was like she was made for doing this kind of work.

"So, presents?" Carole proposed, clapping her hands together in excitement.

Meg's attention was brought back and she looked at Carole, nodding her head. It was now or never. Castiel stood and headed into the front room to retrieve the gifts from under the tree. Carole took this opportunity to pounce.

"You and Castiel should open up your gifts to each other tonight," she said, trying and failing to keep a hushed tone. "It's so much more romantic that way!"

Castiel was walking back to the sitting room, so Meg just nodded quickly in response. It wouldn't be romantic, but it would be a lot better if he opened up his present away from a third party. She didn't want Carole to see how much he probably wouldn't like the gift.

Carole opened her gift from Meg first and was delighted at the sight of the scarf and earrings.

"Oh, I just love this color!" Carole enthused, wrapping the magenta scarf around her neck.

She didn't waste another second to grab the gift from Castiel. Meg sat up a little straighter as she watched Carole rip the wrapping paper from the box. Maybe Carole's gift would be a clue as to what he got her.

But when Meg saw what Castiel had gotten her she realized that she was doomed. He had bought Carole a new Polaroid camera and a ton of film. It was a newer, sleeker model and looked much easier to use than the one she had in the drawer of the front desk.

Castiel had obviously thought long and hard about what he was going to buy her. So, that probably meant that he had thought just as much about what he was going to get Meg.

Carole looked at the presents she had received and her eyes instantly welled up with tears. She practically leaped across the room to wrap her arms around both of them. They both awkwardly patted her on the back until she retreated back to her armchair, giving them a watery smile.

They opened up the presents from Carole at the same time. Meg looked out of the corner of her eye as Castiel looked at all of the books Carole had gotten him. He examined the front and back covers before flipping through each one. It was obvious that he hadn't read a book in a few centuries. He quietly thanked Carole before opening up a Greek tragedy and starting to read.

Meg opened up her present from Carole to see a plethora of different objects. There were candles, bath soaps, lotions, a few books, earrings, necklaces, and a leather Coach bag that she knew must be expensive.

"Just a few things I saw missing from your possessions," Carole shrugged. "Oh and here's one that's for both of you."

Castiel pried himself away from his book to take the present from Carole. He offered it to Meg and she made quick work of shredding the wrapping paper to reveal a plain brown box. Meg opened the box and peered inside along with Castiel

It was a Scrabble Deluxe board game and the newest edition of the Webster's Dictionary. They both tried to suppress the fact that this was their favorite gift of the day.

"Thank you," Castiel said for both of them.

"You're welcome," Carole said, waving a hand dismissively. "Besides, when you two leave I don't want you stealing my Scrabble board."

These words had a negative effect on Meg. When they left? As far as Meg knew they didn't have any plans of leaving.

"You two are not going to stay here forever," Carole said, noticing the look on Meg's face. "You're going to keep going to the ocean. You're going to buy a big house on the beach and make me up a room for me to stay in when I come to visit."

They didn't say anything to that. Sometimes it was so easy to forget that Carole didn't know about the Apocalypse or the Winchesters or the civil war in Heaven. They truly envied her ignorance.

The rest of the day was spent with Carole cooking and playing Christmas music loudly so that nowhere in the inn was soundproof. Castiel continued to read his books, completely blocking everyone else out of his little world. Meg had moved everything from her old bag into her new Coach purse and was currently taking a bath. Her hair was piled up on her head to keep from getting wet and one of the candles was burning. The room smelled like blackberries and vanilla as she flipped through the pages of one of the books Carole had gotten her.

She could only think of how strange it all was. That thought refused to leave her head. It was strange, but it was also a little bit perfect. She had never had a home before, but the White Lily Inn was starting to become hers.

It was almost dinnertime and the water was starting to get cold when Meg exited the bathtub. She drained it and dried herself off before changing into a baggy sweater and a pair of cotton shorts. Meg exited the bathroom feeling ridiculously relaxed. She made her way downstairs to the kitchen and helped Carole get the food ready while Castiel set the table.

Christmas dinner was traditional and delicious. Carole had almost dropped the turkey while getting it out of the oven and a tray of fudge fell out of the crammed fridge and onto the floor. Meg was able to salvage some of it, but had to sadly throw most of it away.

They had eaten in comfortable silence with the rare comment about the food or presents. After they had eaten and cleaned up Carole had poured out eggnog and made a fire in the sitting room. It was getting late and the only source of light was coming from the crackling fire and the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree.

Carole made a show of yawning and saying how tired she was. Before heading up the stairs to her room she gave Meg a big wink. Apparently it was time for Meg and Castiel to exchange gifts. That could wait a little longer though.

"Want to play a game of Scrabble?" Meg proposed.

Castiel nodded in response. They sat on the floor at opposite sides of the coffee table. They set up their new board and started to play in silence. It had started to snow again. Castiel was beating her by about 30 points. She wasn't calling him a cheater like she usually did.

The game ended a little too quickly. Castiel had won and they looked at the crowded board. They didn't suggest playing another game.

"I got you something," Meg said, standing up and making her way toward the tree.

She saw that her present to him was the only one under it. Meg picked it up and turned around to see his present to her on the coffee table. She made her way back to him and placed the gift in front of him. They continued to sit at opposite sides of the coffee table.

"You should go first," Castiel said.

Meg nodded and unwrapped the present in front of her. It was a brown box and Meg opened it to reveal a flat, black velvet case. She took it and perked an eyebrow at him. He shifted uncomfortably and she realized that this was just as awkward for him as it was for her. She gave him a small smile before opening up the case.

It was a bracelet. A thin silver bangle that was twisted in a way that made it continue on forever with no true beginning. Written around the circumference were symbols that she didn't understand. The real thing that caught her breath in her throat was a single charm. It was a black metallic feather that rested on her pulse when she slipped the bracelet on.

He should have opened the present from her first.

"It's an Enochian tracking spell," Castiel said after a long silence. "The symbols written on it, I mean. If you wear that I'll be the only angel able to find you."

Meg nodded dumbly, her eyes moving from the bracelet and then to him.

"Do you like it?" he asked, everything about him seeming tense and nervous.

"I love it," she said.

And she did. She loved it because it was perfect and just so _Castiel_. She was never going to take it off.

Castiel gave a sigh of relief before grabbing his present from the coffee table. Meg felt her stomach churn. He really should have opened that first.

Meg watched in agony as he slowly peeled the wrapping paper off of the box. He took even longer to remove the tape from each edge of the brown box that was under the paper. She was regretting putting so much effort into wrapping it already.

When he finally opened it and had taken out all of the tissue paper he just looked at it. His head tilted to the side and he looked at Meg in confusion.

It was a journal. A thick, heavy, leather bound journal that would be too much to fill for a lifetime.

"You've been around for a long time," Meg said, giving a slightly panicked shrug. "I just thought that maybe you would want to write it all down before you forget something important."

Another long silence filled the room. Castiel continued to stare at her.

"Forget it, it was a stupid idea," Meg said, shaking her head.

"No," Castiel said quickly. "No, this is probably the most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me. Thank you, Meg."

Maybe it was him saying that it was a good gift or maybe it was him saying her name or maybe it was just him. It didn't matter because Meg stood up, made her way around the coffee table, and positioned herself on his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and just breathed him in. He reciprocated by coiling an arm around her waist, the other tangled in her hair.

Castiel pressed their foreheads together and they just looked at each other. In that moment they weren't an angel and a demon. They were a man and a woman and it didn't have to be more complicated than that. Because Meg knew that the White Lily wasn't her home.

He was her home.


	32. Life

_087. Life_

Christmas had come and gone and the New Year was coming soon. The decorations were slowly coming down and being put into boxes that were moved to the attic. Guests were checking out and the inn was slowly coming back to its usual state.

It had been snowing more frequently and sometimes it was hard to even leave the inn. Carole slipped on ice constantly, Castiel coming to her rescue to catch her every time. It was becoming evident that Carole really liked having them around, but she was also making it clear that they could leave whenever they wanted. She wasn't trying to push them out, but there was always a friendly reminder that she would be okay on her own.

Castiel and Meg didn't want to leave though. They liked staying at the White Lily Inn and they were in no rush to leave. Sometimes Meg thought about leaving though. It was hard not to think about what Carole had said at Christmas. Continuing on to the ocean was always in the back of her mind, but she had never thought about actually living there. She liked to lay low, and staying in one place wasn't laying low.

She was pondering this while dumping towels into the washing machine in the basement. Then she realized what she was doing. Her life had become something so domestic that it felt strange. The last time she had done laundry was when she was a human. She hadn't had anyone to come home to since she was human. Right now she felt _human_.

Meg actually liked feeling human again. It was safe and comfortable and surprisingly normal. She was falling into the steady rhythm of this life so easily. Doing laundry and playing Scrabble every night were such normal things to do. She knew that she would never be normal, but her life right now felt normal and that was good.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Castiel's voice said, coming from the doorway of the laundry room.

"Sure," Meg said, dumping detergent into the washing machine and closing the hatch. "What's up?"

"It's almost the New Year," he said.

"Yeah, 2012," Meg nodded. "Pretty exciting."

Castiel coughed and Meg turned to face him. He looked nervous. Meg wondered what he was going to tell her. Was he going back to Heaven? Was he going to find the Winchesters? Was he just going to leave her?

"Well, on New Year's Eve people typically go out at night to celebrate," he continued, everything he was saying seemed planned. It was like he had written it all down before.

"I know," Meg said. "Clarence, is there going to be a point to this?"

Castiel gave a sharp nod, but didn't say anything. He continued to just stare at her and if she wasn't so used to his staring she would have been very uncomfortable.

"Would you like to go out to dinner with me on that night?" he asked.

Now Meg was the one who was staring. "Um, what?"

"Well, we tried to have dinner once and it didn't exactly end pleasantly," he explained.

"It didn't begin pleasantly either," Meg added, thinking back to Abigail and Andrew and all of that pink.

"True," he agreed.

There was a pause between them. Meg was trying to figure out why he wasn't saying anything when she realized that she hadn't answered his question.

"Did Carole put you up to this?" she asked, still avoiding the question.

"Yes," he said bluntly. "She thought it would be a good idea."

"I figured."

Another pause came between them and Castiel continued to look at Meg. His expression had changed to an impatient one this time.

"So, will you go with me?" he asked.

"Sure," Meg shrugged.

Castiel's expression was now one of relief. He nodded his head in confirmation before backing away from the doorway. "I'll let you get back to work."

Once he was gone Meg slumped against the washer. Now her life consisted of having a date with an angel. It might be a date that was slightly forced on them, but it was still a date.

She could have been excited about it, but she was really just dreading it. A date with Castiel was going to be the most awkward experience of her life. She hadn't been on a date in centuries and she knew that he had never been on one at all. They were both going to be awkward on this date.

Meg finished up the laundry and headed upstairs. Carole was in the sitting room boxing up the last of the Christmas decorations. When she saw Meg her mouth broke into a wide smile.

"So, where are you two going to dinner?" she asked.

"No idea," Meg said, joining her in taking down a string of lights.

"You should try the Lily Pad again," Carole said. "I know it didn't exactly work out last time, but it's a great restaurant."

"Yeah, I guess we could," Meg shrugged. "We didn't even make it out of the parking lot the last time."

Then Meg realized what she had just said. The day of the "double date" was also the day that Carl died. She looked at Carole and was surprised to see that she was okay. Carole seemed a little uneasy at the reminder, but she remained calm.

"What are you going to wear?" Carole asked, trying quickly to change the subject.

"The dress I wore at Thanksgiving, I guess," Meg said.

Judging by Carole's face this obviously wasn't going to work.

"No," Carole said shortly. "That was a lovely dress, but you should always wear black on New Year's Eve."

"Well, I guess I need to go dress shopping," Meg said.

Carole nodded in agreement and they spent a few more moments taking down decorations. It was obvious that Carole wanted to come dress shopping too, but didn't want to intrude. So, Meg asked her.

"Do you want to come with me?" Meg asked.

"Oh, definitely!" Carole said.

Sometimes it scared Meg how much her life had changed.


	33. Parents

_027. Parents_

Dress shopping didn't exactly work out like they had initially planned. Carole had come down with the flu. Castiel had offered to heal her, but she had violently refused. Carole didn't trust Castiel's healing powers and was instead relying on heavy doses of medicine to take care of her.

She had tried to continue running the inn, but after almost passing out Castiel had knocked her out with a touch of his fingers and put her to bed. Castiel and Meg were now running the inn alone. This was a task that was ridiculously easy since no one ever came to the White Lily Inn.

New Year's Eve was tomorrow and Meg was trying to think of a good time to go out and buy a dress. She didn't really want to buy a dress, but she didn't want to disappoint Carole. Especially a sick Carole. Before they went to the restaurant Meg knew that Carole would want to see them before they left. She would probably take pictures of them. It would be like they were going to prom.

Meg's annoyance must have been showing on her face because Castiel was giving her a typical worried look.

"Is there something bothering you?" he asked.

"It's nothing," she said, shaking her head.

They were both manning the front desk. Meg had placed her elbows on the desk, flipping through the guest book. Castiel was leaning against the wall, writing in his journal rather quickly. He wrote in that thing constantly, but Meg never pried. He had been around a lot longer than she had been. She knew that he could write volumes of all that he knew and all that he'd experienced. It was overwhelming to think of how much he knew.

The writing stopped though. Meg looked at him to see that his pen had stopped moving and he had a startled expression. She was about to ask him what was wrong when the front door opened and he vanished.

Meg wasn't even able to comprehend why he had left so suddenly when the door to the inn opened and three women walked in. Well, it was probably more accurate to say that two women and a teenage girl walked in. They all looked weary from traveling and Meg assumed that they would only stay the night.

Briefly, Meg wondered if Castiel had fled because this might be a lesbian couple with their daughter. She didn't know where the angel stood on the whole "gay" thing, but she couldn't see him being offended or uncomfortable by that.

It turned out that they weren't a lesbian couple though. One of the women was the girl's mother while the other woman was the girl's aunt. This was easy to decipher by the way the aunt was talking to the gloomy mother. It was obvious that she was the older one and was trying to push her sister around. Meg didn't know why the mother didn't just slap her sister. Being a single parent was probably tough.

Meg stopped her thoughts there because she didn't want to be empathizing with humans any longer than she needed to. She put on her best (extremely fake) smile and greeted the party of three.

"Hi, welcome to the White Lily Inn," Meg said. "I'm Meg and-."

"We'll only be staying for two nights," the aunt said sharply, digging into her bag and taking out her wallet.

There was a voice in the back of Meg's mind telling her that asking them for a Polaroid wasn't going to be a good idea. The daughter was completely silent, the mother was cowardly, the aunt was a bitch, and where the hell was Castiel?

Meg took the credit card from the aunt and swiped it. She handed it back and poised her pen above the guest book. "How many rooms and under what name?"

"Two rooms," the aunt said, shoving her wallet back into her purse. "Under the name 'Novak'."

That name sounded familiar. Actually, that name sounded _freakishly _familiar. Where had she heard it-?

Shit.

"_His name is James Novak. He's from Pontiac, Illinois. He has a wife and a daughter, goes to church every Sunday, and his only fault is a speeding ticket."_

Oh, double shit.

No wonder Castiel had left so abruptly. The mother and daughter were his meatsuit's family. The aunt wasn't the mother's sister, but the meatsuit's sister.

Apparently Meg was taking too long to enter this information into the guest book because the sister-in-law was tapping her foot rather impatiently. Meg quickly scribbled in the name and handed them two keys.

"Right up the stairs," Meg instructed. "The first door on the left is the single, the second on the right is the double."

The sister-in-law snatched the key for her single and went marching up the stairs. In contrast, the mother and daughter lingered behind.

"I'm Amelia and this is my daughter, Claire," Amelia said, outstretching a hand to Meg.

"I'm Meg," she greeted, taking the woman's frail hand.

"Please, excuse my sister-in-law, Denise," Amelia said. "My husband, her brother, passed away a few years ago…"

"You don't have to explain anything to me," Meg said quickly.

She wasn't trying to be kind or compassionate. She just really didn't want to hear it. Amelia nodded, but didn't move on to the stairs. She looked at Meg, long and hard. For one crazy moment Meg thought that she knew that Castiel was upstairs inside of her husband's body.

"You have a lovely inn," she said after some time.

"Oh, um, thanks," Meg said awkwardly. "It's not mine though; the owner is sick right now. I just work here… and live here."

"With your husband?" Amelia asked.

"Who?" Meg inquired, perking an eyebrow.

"Your rings," Amelia said, nodding toward Meg's left hand.

Meg looked down to see the fake engagement and wedding rings on her finger. She always put them on for show in front of Carole. She had never really thought much of it.

"Um, yeah," Meg nodded. "My husband."

The awkward level of the conversation had apparently raised a considerable amount. Amelia gave yet another nod before leading Claire up the stairs. Meg let out a heavy sigh as soon as they were out of sight. This was going to be unpleasant.

"I thought they'd never leave."

"_Shit_!"

Meg spun on her heel, clutching her chest. Castiel was once again leaning against the wall behind the desk, journal tucked safely under his arm.

"Did I frighten you?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"No, I just go around jumping and cursing for fun," she said with an eye roll. "You do know who those people are, don't you?"

"Of course," he nodded. "It would be best if they didn't see me during their stay."

It was hard not to make a sarcastic comment to his plan. It would be terrible if they saw Castiel.

Something occurred to her then. They were going to be staying for two nights. Tomorrow night was New Year's Eve.

"So, no dinner tomorrow night," Meg sighed.

"No, that probably wouldn't be a good idea," Castiel said with a shake of his head.

Meg fought the urge to bang her head against a wall.


	34. Sight

_040. Sight_

Since Castiel wasn't allowed to leave the honeymoon suite and Carole was still sick, Meg was now in charge of the entire inn. This didn't prove to be too difficult since the only guests were the members of the Novak family. They were pretty low maintenance and never approached Meg with any questions or concerns. It was starting to look like their two nights were going to go by very quickly.

This feeling didn't last long though. It was New Year's Eve evening and the inn was deadly quiet. Out of boredom Meg started to rearrange the Polaroids on the cork board. It was giving her something to do until she closed the inn for the night. She was just pinning up a picture of an elderly couple when there was a cough from behind her.

Meg turned to see Amelia Novak standing there. She gave Meg a small smile before leaning against the desk.

"I was just about to take Claire out to dinner for New Years," she said. "I was wondering if you and your husband would like to come. I haven't met him yet, but I would really like to."

An uneasy feeling started to grow inside of Meg's stomach. It would be so much easier if this woman was a complete bitch. It didn't even make any sense that Meg was having such negative feelings toward her. She hadn't done anything wrong. So, why did Meg always feel uneasy at the sight of her?

This woman had married James Novak. She had nothing to do with Castiel. Still, Meg couldn't help thinking about how this woman had touched that body. Well, it _was _James's body, but to Meg it was Castiel's body and-.

"Um, Meg?" Amelia said hesitantly, waving a hand in front of Meg's face. "Are you all right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm good," Meg said quickly, coming out of her daze.

"Right," Amelia said, nodding slowly. "So, dinner?"

It was hard to say no to a woman who looked so defeated. But she had to.

"Sorry, we can't," Meg said. "I have to rearrange all of these pictures."

The lie was more than idiotic, but Amelia seemed to buy it. She nodded, picking up a photo of a man and his daughter.

"This is a nice idea," she commented. "Why didn't you take a picture of us when we first arrived?"

"No offense, but you guys don't seem like a picture-taking family," Meg said.

"Yeah, I guess we don't," Amelia said, picking up another photo. "Things have just fallen apart since… What is this?"

Meg perked an eyebrow at her but Amelia didn't see it. She was too engrossed by the picture in her hands. Meg looked at the photo and felt her heart drop down to her stomach. So much for laying low.

"Um, that's…" Meg started, thinking desperately of a lie to tell.

"You and my husband," Amelia said, her timid tone turning to one of venom.

"Technically he's not your-," Meg once again started.

"Castiel," Amelia said quietly, squinting at Castiel's signature on the Polaroid. "That's the name of-."

"The angel who is using your husband's body as his vessel," Meg sighed, resigning to tell the truth.

Amelia pried her eyes from the photo long enough to look at Meg in disbelief. She looked back to the picture and a whole range of emotions flickered across her face. Meg was unsure if she should talk or just remain standing there, saying nothing.

She didn't have to say anything though.

"Hello Amelia."

Castiel appeared behind Amelia. He looked calm and put together. It was strange to think that to Meg he looked like Castiel, but to Amelia he looked like someone else entirely.

Amelia slowly turned around, holding a hand to her chest as she did. Castiel was so obviously not her husband, but that was her husband's body.

"Can I talk to him?" Amelia asked almost instantly.

Castiel looked at her for a few long moments before sighing and looking at the floor. He had obviously wanted to avoid this confrontation at all costs.

"I'm sorry, but that's impossible," he said.

Either she didn't believe him or she didn't hear him.

"Let me see my husband," she said, more firmly this time.

Castiel's eyes went from Amelia to Meg. It didn't take Meg more than two seconds to realize why Amelia would never see her husband again.

"He's dead," Castiel said.

This seemed to be something that Amelia was not expecting. She clutched onto the edge of the front desk before slowly sitting down on the floor. Castiel crouched down next to her and Meg suddenly wished that she could run out of the room. Just the sight of them on the floor was making her feel uncomfortable.

"He can't be," Amelia said. "You were keeping him safe, weren't you?"

"There was a time that I wasn't taking very good care of this vessel," Castiel explained. "His body couldn't take the strain of… it couldn't take the strain."

Meg knew that he was talking about all of the souls from Purgatory. That body had started to deteriorate and with Leviathans inside of him, Jimmy had never stood a chance.

This would be almost impossible to try to explain to Amelia though. She was still sitting on the floor, nodding dumbfounded at everything that Castiel said. It was then that Meg took this opportunity to slowly make her way to the staircase. Castiel needed to explain things to Amelia and it was obvious that it would be better if Meg didn't stick around.

When she was back in the honeymoon suite, Meg began to think about Amelia's reaction to her husband being completely dead. It looked like a part of her had died along with him. It was a hard sight to see.

It was also hard to believe that humans had that much emotion. But Meg couldn't really be one to judge. She didn't know how she would react if she lost someone that dear to her.


	35. New Year

_095. New Year_

It wasn't a surprise to Meg that the Novak family left a half hour after Amelia's breakdown in the lobby. Castiel waited in the honeymoon suite until the family of three was gone. Carole was in her room, sleeping off the rest of the cold. Meg stood stiffly at the front desk. Amelia had given her a _look _before she left. The look was impossible to decipher. Meg didn't know what it meant or what emotions were behind it. She just knew that it made her feel uneasy.

Once they were gone, Castiel appeared next to her at the front desk. She was so used to him doing this that she didn't even jump anymore.

"They're gone," he stated.

"Yeah," she nodded, not even bothering to make a snarky comment about his obvious observation.

They continued to stand in silence. She wasn't sure if they should talk about it or not. Hell, she wasn't even sure _what _it is they would talk about. Amelia was sad over the loss of her husband. It had nothing to do with them.

And yet it felt like it had everything to do with them.

"There's still about an hour left until the next year," Castiel said, glancing at the clock on the wall.

"2012 is almost here," Meg said.

There was more silence. This time it felt weighted though. It was like they were supposed to be saying something more about the New Year. So, Meg spoke up.

"We could still go out," she suggested. "Probably nothing fancy this late, but there are bound to be a few restaurants that are still accepting customers."

He looked at her for a few moments before slowly nodding his head. Castiel vanished once more, but appeared a few seconds later. He shrugged into his overcoat before handing her a jacket. Meg took it and they headed out of the inn, locking the door behind them.

They took the Porsche to a small barbeque restaurant 15 minutes away. The place wasn't crowded and the service was fast. They were stowed away in a little corner booth with sticky tabletops and ancient menus.

Conversation was unusually plain. They discussed the inn's business, Carole's stubbornness, the oddly named desserts on the restaurant's menu, and even the weather. Nothing was of any substance and left them both feeling strangely empty despite the amount of food they had just ingested.

They left the restaurant with 20 minutes until midnight. The ride back to the inn was silent. Everything felt safe and sterile and untouched. Amelia's outburst at the inn had affected both of them in strange ways. They just couldn't figure out how to voice it. Her clear distraught over her husband's death had struck a chord particularly in Meg. She had no idea what it would be like to lose someone like that.

When they arrived at the inn neither of them made any move to get out of the car. They just sat there, seatbelts undone for lack of purpose and awkwardly looking at their laps.

The clock in the car read 11:59. Only one more minute until it was 2012. Castiel looked to the passenger seat where Meg was sitting. Her eyes were focused on the clock until she noticed him looking at her.

"When the clock turns midnight you're supposed to kiss someone," she said.

Castiel nodded slowly before he looked back at the clock. It flickered to midnight and his lips were on hers.

It wasn't like the first time. It wasn't against a wall when hellhounds were threatening to kill them and Sam and Dean Winchester weren't there making confused expressions. It also wasn't hasty. It wasn't gritty or impatient. It was smooth, slow, and filled with something they were both afraid to admit.

Castiel weaved a hand through her hair while the other cupped her hip. Both of her hands were clutching his arms. The positioning was a little awkward with the console between them. So, Meg did something to change that.

She disconnected their lips and swung her leg over the console. Soon she was straddling him in the seat, pressing their foreheads together.

"Hi," she breathed, smiling softly.

"Hello," he said in exchange.

They just sat there, looking at each other. Meg was memorizing the exact blue of his eyes as Castiel ran a hand through her soft dark curls.

"This is… unexpected," he said after some time.

"Really? I kinda saw it coming," Meg mused.

He laughed and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her flush against his chest.

"You're really good at this," she said, trying to be discreet as she inhaled his scent.

"At what?" he asked.

She almost felt embarrassed to say it. But then she remembered that she never felt embarrassed around him.

"Making me feel like I'm not some kind of monster," she said, keeping her voice low.

"You're not," he said, placing a hand on her cheek.

"But what I am is," she continued. "I'm a demon, you're an angel."

"I'm well aware," Castiel said.

Meg looked at him almost hesitantly. He looked so completely unfazed. Castiel truly didn't care that she was a demon, an "abomination".

"Castiel," she breathed before he captured her lips once again.

She allowed herself to press into him a little bit more. For once she let someone take care of her. His arms wrapped around her as he pulled her even closer. Meg moved her mouth eagerly against his in the cramped space.

It wasn't the most comfortable of arrangements, but they both managed. They were silently telling each other how long they had wanted this, how long they had tried to fight against it.

When Meg's hands were carding through his dark hair and his hands were travelling a little to the South, the reality started to sink in. Castiel was the first to break away.

"This is even more unexpected," he said.

"What is?" Meg asked, pressing their foreheads together again and stroking the back of his head.

"I didn't think that it would be in a car," he said bluntly.

Meg gave a few slow blinks before letting out a laugh. He soon joined her and they sat there, laughing and holding each other. It was then that Meg realized this was the happiest she had ever been.

She could think about her deeper feelings for him later. There wasn't any rush in unearthing them just yet. Right now she just wanted to sink into the moment.

"Happy New Year, Castiel."

"Happy New Year, Meg."


	36. Not Enough

_034. Not Enough_

It was a few days into the New Year now and things were progressing at their usual pace. Carole was up and running the inn again, leaving all of the tedious tasks to Castiel and Meg. Except they didn't mind the boring tasks that much anymore.

Folding sheets in the laundry room in the murky basement used to be annoying and brain numbing. Now it was actually welcome. Since they were away from Carole it was very easy for them to get tangled in the sheets instead of folding them.

That certain Tuesday was no exception. To give them credit, they had actually been folding for a good ten minutes before distractions got in the way. Neither was sure who started it, but it really didn't matter in the end.

Meg wound up with her back pressed against the cement basement floor with only a few thin sheets under her. Castiel had one hand in her hair and the other on her bare thigh (making her feel very happy about choosing to wear shorts despite it being January). Meg was preoccupied by unbuttoning his shirt and pressing her hands against the warm skin.

Making out with an angel in a human body while doing laundry at an inn. If Meg had a bucket list, she would probably be checking this off of it.

Despite Castiel being a virgin in every sense of the word, he was a ridiculously good kisser. She had known this ever since he had pressed her against that wall, but this was just insane. Meg was actually finding herself getting _lightheaded_. Kissing a human body had never been that pleasurable to Meg, even kissing as a demon was a slight headache.

This was so different though. With Castiel it felt like everything was not enough. Almost like if she didn't get enough of him she would be in extreme danger. He was a drug and she always needed her fix.

Castiel broke the kiss after a few intense minutes and Meg looked up at him, half-dazed. His hair was ruffled, eyes dark, lips bruised, and shirt halfway open and un-tucked.

He should be illegal.

"I really don't think this is helping with the laundry," he said, his voice slightly rougher than usual.

"I think that's the point," Meg said, smiling at him.

She was actually smiling too. Not a coy one or a little smirk, but genuinely smiling. She still had yet to figure out what he was doing to her.

"Yes, but if it takes us too long, then Carole will come down here to check on us," he explained.

"And?"

"And if Carole comes down she'll want to stay to talk."

Meg was catching on to what he was saying just fine now. She gave a quick nod and stood up, picking up sheets as she made her way to an empty laundry basket. Castiel watched intently as she hastily folded sheet after sheet and shoved them into the laundry basket.

"I don't think I've ever seen you move this fast," Castiel said as he followed her lead.

"Well, I've never had this much motivation to do laundry before," she shrugged.

He gave a light chuckle as they quickly folded the rest of the clean sheets. After finishing up in record timing, they headed upstairs to quickly put away the sheets when they saw Carole talking to someone in the lobby. Meg usually wouldn't have given it any attention other than the fact that the woman was heavily pregnant.

Not having twins pregnant, but about to give birth any second now pregnant. Meg and Castiel stopped just outside of the lobby as they listened to what Carole was telling her.

"If your due date really is just a few days away, then you should go to a hospital," Carole pressed. "We only have a local physician in town and I'm afraid that he wouldn't be able to do enough for you."

"Just one night, please," the woman pleaded. "I need a place to stay. I've been traveling for days and I'm so tired."

Carole looked at her hesitantly, biting her lip as she thought. This was probably killing Carole. She wanted to help no matter what, but this woman needed to be either in or close to a hospital. Staying at the inn wasn't going to help her at all if she went into labor soon.

"Let her stay."

Meg looked to her right to the source of the voice. Castiel was standing confidently next to her, the basket of sheets still in his hands. The woman turned her attention to Castiel and gave him a small smile.

"Castiel, I'm not sure you understand, but this woman needs to be closer to a hospital," Carole said, looking at him nervously.

"No, she needs to be close to someone who knows how to deliver an infant," Castiel stated.

It took Meg half a second to realize what he was saying. She didn't know why she was surprised; he was an _angel _after all.

"You can deliver the baby?" Carole asked.

"If I need to," he replied confidently.

The pregnant woman's face broke out into a huge smile now. She turned to Carole who was already opening up her guestbook to the appropriate page.

"Well, since I don't know how long you'll be staying, you can pay when you leave," Carole said.

The woman, Elizabeth, gave a hefty amount of gratitude as Carole snapped a picture of her and handed her a room key.

"I'll show you to your room," Carole said, picking up Elizabeth's only bag before turning to Castiel and Meg. "You two need to finish up with those sheets and no more fooling around. I know exactly what you two were doing in that basement."

Once Carole and Elizabeth were gone, Meg turned to Castiel with a perked eyebrow.

"Since when do you know how to deliver a baby?"

"Since always," he shrugged.

She nodded her head slowly, still waiting for a full explanation. He realized what she was after and gave a small sigh.

"Meg, I've been alive since before humans were even an idea," he explained. "Of course I know how to help one into this world. I've done it before."

"You have?"

"Yes, twins, actually."

"_Twins_?"

"During the Civil War," he shrugged. "A soldier's wife was in labor and all of the nurses were busy tending to wounds, so I-."

"Details aren't necessary, Clarence," Meg cut off.

He closed his mouth and nodded. They stood there in the lobby, awkwardly looking at each other. Castiel then brought his attention to the basket of sheets he was holding.

"I'm going to go put these away upstairs in the linen closet, you should put those away in all of the spare rooms," he suggested.

Meg was about to say that he shouldn't boss her around when his mouth met hers. It was a slow and tender kiss that was over before it could really start. He was walking up the stairs when she realized that it was still not enough. It would never be enough because Castiel wasn't a drug.

He was medicine and that scared the hell out of her.

Literally.


	37. Insides

_004. Insides_

Elizabeth (the ridiculously pregnant woman) had only been staying at the inn for one day and she was already making everyone a nervous wreck. The woman would hiccup and things would suddenly switch to red alert. Everything would always be fine though and things would go back to normal.

Carole had never had any children, so she was doting on Elizabeth like it was her sole purpose in life. Meg had never found company in pregnant women, so she was steering clear from her as best as she could. Castiel was completely different in the sense that he just treated her like a normal person.

To him it wasn't like she was a time bomb ready to go off. She was just another human woman who was staying at the inn. It was nice to see that at least one of them was able to act calm about the entire thing.

"You're so lucky," Elizabeth said on the morning of her first full day at the inn.

Meg was dusting in the sitting room and Elizabeth was sitting on the loveseat knitting baby booties. It was hard to focus on what she had said when she was _knitting_. It was hard to believe that people other than Carole actually did that kind of thing.

"How so?" Meg asked, shoving the feather duster into an empty vase and twirling it around.

"You have Castiel," Elizabeth sighed. "He's so good to you."

If Elizabeth had known anything about angels and demons then Meg would have told her about the time Castiel had pushed her into holy fire. But, from Elizabeth's point of view they were human and married to each other.

"Yeah, I guess," Meg shrugged.

It wasn't a lie. Despite them getting to a pretty rocky start, things had turned out great. They were sort of friends now with the occasional make-out session. He had taken to protecting her too. There was no way she was going to tell Elizabeth that he made her insides flutter or that she kind of liked how blue his eyes were. That stuff was always better inside of Hallmark cards than said out loud.

"Oh, come on, he's perfect," Elizabeth pressed. "His eyes are always on you. He might be quiet, but he's kind. He is delivering my baby, after all."

Well, when she put it like that it was easy for Meg to see his better points.

"Not to mention he's not too bad on the eyes," Elizabeth added in, giving Meg a sly grin.

If only Elizabeth knew just how his real form would affect her eyes. She was talking about his meatsuit though, and Meg had to grudgingly admit that he was attractive. For a human, anyway.

As soon as she thought about his meatsuit, Meg automatically remembered Amelia and Claire. It was strange that a pair of humans had been affecting her so much. Her mind just kept replaying Amelia's cry after Castiel told her that her husband was dead. It was too much for anyone to handle.

"Yeah, I guess I'm pretty lucky," Meg said after a moment of silence. "He's pretty great."

The only thing bad about this statement was that Castiel was standing in the doorway listening to every word. Meg's gaze met his just as she finished her statement and one of his eyebrows shot up. Oh, he was never going to let her live this down.

"If you'll excuse me," Meg said to Elizabeth before heading to the lobby to go upstairs, taking her feather duster with her.

Elizabeth watched her leave before meeting the eyes of Castiel. He gave her a slight nod in departure before turning around to follow Meg upstairs.

It didn't take him long to find her. She was just standing in the hallway, dusting a table that had random knickknacks on it. He approached her and leaned against the wall next to her.

"So, you think I'm 'pretty great'?" he asked, not even bothering to hide his slight grin.

"Oh, shut up," Meg said, rolling her eyes. "She's thinks we're married and madly in love. 'Pretty great' is probably an understatement in that situation."

Castiel didn't seem too convinced by that. He continued to grin at her and Meg felt her stomach flip a little inside of her.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I think you're pretty great as well," Castiel shrugged.

"Aw, thanks, Clarence," Meg said, oozing sarcasm.

"So, what else are you doing for the rest of the day?" he asked.

"Dusting, manning the front desk," Meg shrugged. "Wait, why aren't you doing anything?"

"Carole just had a few errands for me to run in town," he shared. "It didn't take long."

Apparently Meg was giving Castiel a dirty look because he seemed almost startled by her expression.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm stuck inside dusting all day and babysitting the pregnant knitting woman and you get to go into town?" Meg asked incredulously.

"It looks that way," he nodded.

She wanted to say more, but it was clear that Castiel wasn't the one to talk to about this. She would have to discuss trading some of her chores with Carole later. None of her chores were hard, but they were all extremely boring.

"Well, I have to dust," Meg sighed, gesturing toward the entire inn in general. "Why don't you go warm up for Scrabble tonight? You're going to need all of the extra help since I'm going to kick your ass."

"I don't know about that," he said. "Maybe I should finish dusting and you should warm up for the game."

"Very funny," Meg said, rolling her eyes.

It was weird to hear him say things like that though. With every passing day he was becoming more and more human. She wasn't sure if that frightened or excited her.

"Finish your dusting," Castiel said before pressing his lips against hers.

Meg's eyes instantly closed as she pushed into the kiss. He pulled away quickly though and headed to the honeymoon suite without another word. Castiel now had the nasty habit of jumbling up her insides.


	38. Birth

_029. Birth_

The honeymoon suite was an absolute sanctuary. It was light and open and had an extremely comfortable bed. There was a bathroom attached and a nice stack of board games on the dresser. The entire room was a great place to stay.

Meg was currently appreciating the honeymoon suite a lot more than she would have originally thought. She had never truly seen its beauty before now. Especially since she had locked herself away in there to escape from the cries of pain from the sitting room.

Elizabeth was finally giving birth to her child. Meg was happy for her, sure. But she was also traumatized by the sight. She was accustomed to humans now, but there were still things that she could definitely go without. And seeing a woman giving birth was one of those things.

It had been going on for about an hour now and Meg was trying to entertain herself by playing solitaire. Needless to say, it got boring after the first 30 minutes.

The day had started off normal enough, but everything changed when Elizabeth's water had broken. Carole had frozen in shock, but Castiel had been ridiculously alert. He had asked her for a last time if she wanted to go to the hospital and she once again declined the offer.

Carole had come to her senses after a while and was in a frenzy to help Castiel. Meg had been dismissed from the room for just standing around, trying desperately not to look at what was happening.

So, here she was. She knew that she could just disappear from the room and pop up somewhere else, but she didn't know where she would go. If she went somewhere without Castiel she feared she would be tempted to stay there.

They hadn't discussed the topic of leaving the inn. It was obvious that Carole didn't really need them there anymore and the monotony of the days was beginning to get annoying. Meg thought about leaving on occasion, but she didn't know how Castiel would react to it. She knew that he liked it at the inn and she didn't want to propose leaving.

The screams downstairs had stopped and seconds later the door to the suite was opened. Carole was standing there looking excited and slightly sweaty.

"It's a boy!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "Come down and see him!"

Apparently Meg didn't have any say in the matter. She stood up from the bed, stretched, and then followed Carole downstairs into the sitting room.

Elizabeth was sitting on the floor with a crying newborn cradled in her arms. She looked content and happy and completely unscathed. An angel was just as good as delivering babies as a doctor was.

Meg looked around the room to see Castiel sitting in an armchair, looking at the mother and her newborn. He noticed that Meg had walked in and gave her a small grin. She grinned back and walked over to him, sitting on the armrest.

"You should rest," Carole said, breaking the silence as she looked at Elizabeth. "I'll make sure your baby gets some sleep."

"All right, thank you," Elizabeth said, her eyes never leaving her son.

Carole gingerly took the baby out of her arms and cradled him close to her. Castiel stood and helped Elizabeth to her feet, leading her upstairs to her room. Once they were out of the room, Meg made her way to Carole and the baby.

"Does he have a name?" Meg asked.

"Not yet," Carole said, shaking her head.

Meg nodded in understanding, looking down at the baby boy. He was cute, she guessed. He didn't look any different from the other human infants she had seen. To Carole he seemed to be the most adorable thing the world had ever been blessed with though.

After Meg pretended to be fascinated with the baby for a few more minutes, Carole left the room to put the baby to bed. Meg sat down on the armchair Castiel had previously occupied with a sigh. This inn was slowly starting to drive her insane. She liked it, but everything was becoming a little boring. Maybe after Elizabeth left she could talk to Castiel about leaving.

It was still hard to decipher where they stood exactly. If she left she wasn't completely positive that he would come with her.

The sounds of someone coming down the stairs greeted her and she looked up to see Castiel walking toward her. He stopped in front of the armchair and made a small hand motion for her to stand up. She stood and he sat down in the chair. Meg was about to complain when he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her onto his lap.

"You okay?" Meg asked once she was settled, looking at the tired look on his face.

"I'm fine," he said. "It's just been awhile since I've done that."

"Delivering a baby?"

"No, well yes, but it's been awhile since I've healed anyone."

"Oh," Meg said, unaware of what else to say. "So, how did it feel?"

He raised an eyebrow at her and she just shrugged. It was clear that they both weren't well versed in the caring boyfriend-girlfriend act. Boyfriend and girlfriend, now those were two words she had never thought about.

"It felt good," he said finally. "Familiar."

Meg nodded approvingly and once again they were submerged into a comfortable silence. There was still the subject of leaving that was at the back of her mind. She wanted to go, but she didn't want to leave behind moments like this. The inn felt so safe and familiar. Did she really want to leave that?

"Shouldn't Elizabeth and her baby go to a hospital or something?" Meg asked, breaking the silence.

"They'll go when they're ready to leave," he said.

"Right," Meg said.

There was more silence, this one feeling rather uncomfortable. But neither one of them breeched it, each afraid of poking something that didn't need to be addressed just yet.


	39. Thursdays

_096. Thursdays_

"I hate Thursdays," Meg sighed.

This probably wasn't the right thing to say to the Angel of Thursday. Meg hadn't exactly been thinking of that though as she slumped against the passenger's seat in the Porsche.

"Well, not all Thursdays, but-," Meg started, trying to defend herself as Castiel gave her an offended look.

"What's wrong with Thursdays?" he asked.

"Oh, y'know… they're _Thursdays_," Meg said, waving her hands in the air.

"Yes, they are Thursdays," he nodded.

"Thursday is the day that leads to Friday which leads to the weekend," Meg shrugged. "It's like the waiting day. The weekend's almost there, but not really."

Castiel was still looking slightly offended as he put the key into the ignition and turned it. He backed out of the parking space and drove toward the main road, out of the White Lily. They were going to a friend of Carole's, a woman who lived a few hours away.

After Castiel had delivered Elizabeth's son, Carole had been eager to learn about Castiel's healing abilities. He told her he could heal virtually anything and her eyes had brightened considerably at this. The friend they were visiting was a young woman who had been trying for a baby with her husband. They hadn't had any luck though and after visiting a doctor they found out that she was infertile.

The woman who they were visiting didn't know that Castiel was an angel, but had a "gift". They had even given him a fake name. After checking out a baby names website, Carole had come up with "Emmanuel". Meg had almost laughed at the name choice.

Initially Castiel had been reluctant to help, but after a few tears from Carole he was ready to run out of the door. Meg was coming along too in hopes of talking to Castiel while they were driving. She still wanted to talk to him about leaving the White Lily, but she was unsure if he would want to come with her.

"So, how much say do you get in Thursdays?" Meg asked after a few minutes of silence.

"What do you mean?" Castiel questioned.

"Well, what do you do for Thursdays?" she inquired. "What do you decide?"

"Everything, I suppose," he shrugged. "Who lives, who dies, what the weather will be like, when the sun will rise, things like that."

"You're doing all of that now?"

"No, I planned out every Thursday until the end of time already."

"So, you know who's going to die today and every other Thursday?"

"Yes," he nodded.

Meg continued to look at him as he watched the road. She seriously didn't give him enough credit sometimes. Castiel was such a mystery to her. Whenever she thought she was getting close to figuring him out, he surprised her with new knowledge. He really was a wonder.

"Did you have any specific roles in hell?" he asked.

Great, now he wanted to know all about her. She was actually feeling a little uncomfortable now.

"Well, I trained under Alastair in… torture," she said. "But you already knew that."

Castiel gave another nod and Meg found herself wanting to know what he was thinking. Did he despise her because of that? Was he disgusted with her?

But what would give him the right to? He had done plenty of nasty things in his existence and he really didn't have the right to judge her. Contrary to popular belief, there weren't any innocent angels.

"What about your human life?" he asked. "Do you remember anything about that?"

Wow, now she had to think way back. That was back in the 1600s. It felt so much longer though. Probably because of all of her years spent in hell.

"I was born in 1648," she shared. "I lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. My dad was a teacher and I had 3 little sisters. Nothing special."

"How can you not think it's special, Meg?" Castiel asked. "It's your life."

"No, this is my life," she said firmly. "Not that."

There were a few more moments of silence and Meg wondered if she should share something else about herself. That was hardly anything to go on, but why should she share with him? He rarely shared anything personal with her. Castiel would rather write everything personal in his journal than talk to her about it.

"You were born on a Thursday," he said. "You died on a Thursday as well. I remember you."

It felt like something was blocking her throat now. She couldn't speak or breathe or think.

"I watched over you sometimes," he continued. "You were very beautiful."

She could picture what she had looked like and it hurt like hell to think about it. Long, wavy black hair. Green eyes. Pale skin.

"You were engaged to a man you didn't love," Castiel went on. "So, you killed yourself-."

"Buying me a one-way ticket to hell," Meg finished.

A more than uncomfortable silence filled the car after that. She hadn't thought about her past life in a long time. What had become of her parents and her sisters? They had probably all gone to heaven. Every single one of them had been so kind, so pure of heart.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up," Castiel said.

"It's fine," she said. "It's just been a long time."

There was more silence and Meg found herself becoming sick of it. Another thing he had said was nagging on her as well.

"You watched over me?" she asked.

"Yes," he said without hesitation. "You were very intriguing. Very little women spoke their mind like you did back then."

Meg let out a small smile. The thought of him watching over her made her ridiculously happy. But now all she could think of was how much he was probably disappointed in her. Becoming a demon was probably the last thing he wanted to happen to her. So, she didn't bring it up.

"I wish I could live in my own body sometimes," she admitted. "This body is great, but it isn't mine. It doesn't feel right."

"I could probably do something about that," Castiel said.

"Like what?" Meg asked.

"Well, there was another angel who not too long ago stripped herself of her grace," he said. "She was able to be born as a human. When she got her grace back she was able to make a vessel that looked like her human form."

"So, you could make me a meatsuit that looks like my original body?"

"It'll take time and you won't be able to leave that body when you enter it, but-."

Castiel was then efficiently cut off by Meg grabbing his face and pressing her lips against his. Thankfully they were at a red light when she did. When cars starting honking at them and the light turned green, Meg pulled away.

"Thank you," she said, giving him a genuine smile.

* * *

**Just in case anyone wants a good idea of what Meg's original body looks like, I had Katie McGrath in mind while describing her.**


	40. Why?

_080. Why?_

It wasn't until they were back in the car after healing Carole's friend when Meg got the idea. Before leaving, the woman and her husband had insisted on paying them for their troubles. Castiel had fiercely refused, saying that he hadn't done anything that was troubling. They were persistent though, and Castiel and Meg left a little bit richer. It wasn't a huge amount of money, but it wasn't a measly sum either.

The idea that hatched into Meg's mind was a healing business. It was a perfect idea. Every supernatural being that knew about Castiel thought that he was dead. No one would think that an angel would be the one healing everyone. It would just be some guy with a gift, nothing completely unheard of. They could make money off of it too. Enough money to finally head to the ocean and maybe buy that beach house Carole had mentioned back at Christmas.

"Why?" Castiel asked after she pitched the idea (leaving out the part about leaving the White Lily Inn).

"Because I'm tired of living off of Carole," Meg said. "We could make a lot of money off of this."

She was driving this time so she couldn't look over at him to see his expression. He probably had one of deep thinking though. Come to think of it, he always looked like he was in deep thought.

"Meg, we don't really need money though," he said. "We work for Carole and she lets us stay at the inn. No money is involved."

"Yeah, but wouldn't it be nice to have some extra money?" she pushed.

Castiel didn't respond. Meg took a chance and looked at him from the corner of her eye. He was definitely thinking about it.

"I don't see why though," he said after a few short moments of silence. "What would we want that we would have to pay for?"

It was Meg's turn to start thinking. Maybe it was time to just fess up and say that she wanted to leave the inn. If he didn't come with her, that was fine. It wasn't like she would never go back to the White Lily. She would see him again.

"I want to continue to the ocean," she admitted. "I want to buy that beach house and be on our own."

There was a long pause. It was hard to tell if it was uncomfortable or not. Castiel was thinking about this while Meg continued to drive, focusing on the road and not thinking of what his answer might be.

"You want me to come with you?" he asked.

"If you want to," she shrugged.

"You don't think that I would want to?"

"Well, no."

"Why not?"

"Because you've lived a long time, Clarence," Meg said. "And you need some downtime. You like staying at the White Lily. Besides, why would you want to live with me? I'm a demon, you're an angel, and this was never going to work. There are so many reasons why you shouldn't that-."

She was but off by Castiel clamping a hand over her mouth. Meg turned her head to look at him and he nodded in the direction of a supermarket parking lot. Catching his drift, Meg took a turn and entered the parking lot. She parked the car and Castiel removed his hand from her mouth. Meg turned to face him and the first thing she saw was him shaking his head at her.

"Meg, I think the perfect opportunity to have 'downtime' would be at the beach," he started. "It's much more relaxing than an inn where I do tedious tasks every day. I do like staying at the White Lily, but only because of you and Carole. If I go with you to the ocean, I'll still see you and visiting Carole won't be out of the question."

"Yeah, but-," Meg began to protest.

"I'm getting there," Castiel said, talking over her. "I already am living with you and I'm comfortable with it. I've also told you before that I don't care that you're a demon. So, stop bringing that up as an excuse."

Meg waited for him to continue when she realized that he was done talking. She slowly began to nod, taking in all of what he had said.

"So, you'll come with me?"

"Of course," he nodded.

"Oh, okay," she said. "When should we leave?"

"How about when I get your body back?" he suggested. "I don't want us to come back and visit Carole with her not recognizing you."

"Good idea," Meg agreed.

Assuming that the conversation was over, Meg was about to turn the car back on when Castiel placed a hand on top of hers to stop her.

"Why were you so hesitant to ask me that?" he questioned.

"I was just really scared that you would say no," she replied.

He simply nodded and Meg returned to starting up the car again. She pulled out of the parking lot and back on to the main road. They were driving for a few minutes when Meg brought the healing business up again.

"Obviously you won't go by your real name," she said. "You can go by 'Emmanuel' if you want. Just think about how much money we would make-."

"Meg, just drop it," he said.

Meg shot him a dejected look that he chose to ignore. Yet a few more moments of silence passed when she decided to bring up another subject that had been bothering her.

"So, how long will it take you to get my original body back?" she asked.

"About a week," he said.

"Wow, that quick?" she asked. "I thought it would take longer."

"No, it's a fairly short process," Castiel shrugged. "Not an easy process, but a short one."

Meg was curious as to how he planned on getting her body back when she realized she didn't want to know. It was probably one of those "ignorance is bliss" moments.


	41. Heart

_047. Heart_

"You tell her."

"What? No, you tell her."

"Tell her."

"Don't order me to tell her, Clarence."

"I'm not ordering, I'm suggesting."

"Yeah, sure."

It had been a few days since Castiel and Meg had come back from healing Carole's friend. Since then Carole had been bringing in patient after patient for Castiel to heal. Whether he liked it or not, it seemed that Castiel was getting his healing business after all.

Meg hadn't been seeing much of him lately. He would come in to heal people and then leave afterward. Carole had confronted Meg, asking her if things were all right between them, and Meg had responded by saying things were never better. It wasn't a lie at all. Castiel was off getting her body back for her and Meg had never been happier. For the first time in a long time she was actually looking forward to something.

Now was one of the rare times when he actually had time to spare. The couple was standing in the lobby, peaking into the sitting room to look at Carole who was folding towels. They knew they had to tell her they were leaving soon.

"I never thought it would be this hard," Meg groaned, leaning back against the wall.

Castiel nodded in agreement. He hadn't told her the methods he was taking to get her body back. She had yet to ask and part of her still didn't want to know.

"I'm sure she'll understand," Castiel said. "She is the one suggested it in the first place."

"Yeah, but she just lost her husband and running this inn all by herself won't be easy," Meg protested.

"We'll visit when we can," he assured. "Besides, I think she's even more serious about this healing business than you are. She'll probably call me constantly so I can come over and heal people."

"That's for sure," Meg snorted.

The pair still continued to stand there, not even making an effort to move. Leaving Carole was a pretty big step. They had been there for months and it was becoming a second home for both of them. Carole would be more than happy at the prospect of them moving on, but Meg was just scared. The woman was already fragile from her husband's death, if Castiel and Meg left then it might be too much.

It was then that Meg realized that she had a heart. She was worrying about a human woman. This was beyond ridiculous and a little unheard of for her. Her heart went out to Carole and that was just downright bizarre.

"I just don't want to break her heart," Meg said, looking at her shoes.

Castiel was about to respond when Carole's voice came from the sitting room.

"Will you two stop whispering and just come in here and talk to me?" she called, sounding more than a little exasperated.

Meg caught Castiel's eyes and they both held in a small laugh. They entered the sitting room to see Carole sitting in an armchair. She was done folding towels and was looking at them suspiciously. Castiel and Meg sat down on the loveseat across from each other.

"So, what is it?" Carole asked, arms folded across her chest.

"We're leaving soon," Meg blurted out.

There was a short pause in the room. Carole perked an eyebrow and Castiel looked at her in vague astonishment. Meg assumed that she too looked surprised.

"Well, _finally_," Carole said, half-laughing and half-sighing. "I thought you two would never leave."

"Thanks for sounding so broken up about it, Carole," Meg said.

"Oh, you know what I mean," Carole said, waving a hand in the air. "I love you both, but you need to continue on living your lives. It's nice having you around, but I can take care of this place by myself."

"So, you're okay with it?" Meg asked.

"Of course!" Carole said. "When are you leaving and where are you going?"

"Um, I think…" Meg trailed off, looking at Castiel for support.

It was up to him when they left. They were going to leave as soon as she got her body back so they could show Carole. Meg had no idea what the progress on that was, so it was all up to Castiel.

"The day after tomorrow," he informed. "We're going to continue traveling to the ocean."

"That's pretty soon," Carole said.

"Well, it's when I can get my body back," Meg said.

The look on Carole's face obviously said that she had no idea what that meant. Meg was about to explain when Castiel started to.

"Meg used to be a human back in the 1600s," he began. "The body she currently has is a vessel and not her true self. I'm working to get her original body back."

Carole nodded slowly in slight understanding. She probably got the gist of what he was saying, but not all of it. That was understandable since it was a lot to take in.

"So, this isn't really you?" Carole asked Meg.

"No," Meg said, shaking her head.

Once again Carole nodded and Meg wondered if they were only confusing her more.

"Well, before you two leave I'm going to have to replace that picture on the board," Carole said.

This was one of the last things Meg was expecting. It seemed like a completely random statement, but at the same time it seemed like a perfectly normal Carole thing to say.

"So, will you still be able to continue with the healing business, Castiel?" Carole asked. "You can keep going by Emmanuel."

"That will be fine," Castiel said with reluctance in his voice. "You can call me when a patient arrives here and I can fly over to heal them."

"Well then, that's great," Carole said excitedly. "Actually I have a new one for you. He's a young gentleman with a heart condition and-."

"I'll leave in a few minutes," Castiel cut in. "I would like to talk to Meg for a moment."

"Oh, all right," Carole said, standing up and taking her basket of towels with her as she left the room.

Meg turned to Castiel with a raised eyebrow. He was looking at her with a slightly nervous expression.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I've run into a few complications with your body," he said.

"Like what?" Meg asked as panic started to fill her. "Please don't tell me that you forgot what my nose looked like and you guessed and it looks horrible and now you can't fix it."

"No, nothing like that," he said. "Physically it's fine, but… There are a few things that are limiting about it."

"Like what?" Meg repeated.

Castiel chose this moment to think about it. He opened and closed his mouth several times, apparently not committing to anything he was thinking. This only made Meg worry more as her heart sped up in slight panic.

"Castiel, you're kind of freaking me out," Meg said. "What's wrong?"

He turned to face her, now looking slightly resigned by what he was going to tell her.

"The body will not age, so you will stay physically 26 forever," he said. "You also won't be able to leave the body. Even when you go to hell you won't be able to regain your demon form. A demon-killing device will still affect you along with demon circles. Since you will have your original body back demons won't be able to recognize you."

"So, I'll basically be an immortal human who's affected by the usual demon stuff?" Meg asked for confirmation.

Castiel nodded, looking slightly worried. "I'm sorry that it's inconvenient."

"_Inconvenient_?" Meg asked. "This is _great_! Way better than what I expected."

Her heart had relaxed in her chest and she was feeling more than relieved. She had expected him to tell her that things would be worse and she was better sticking to a vessel.

Meg wrapped her arms around his neck and he held her close to him. Things were finally starting to go her way.


	42. Who?

_076. Who?_

The next morning, as soon as the sun shined through the window of the honeymoon suite, Meg started packing. She burned all of the fake IDs of her current meatsuit. She contemplated clothes, wondering if they would fit her original body. This meatsuit was shorter than her original body, she rememberd that much. In the end she bagged up most of the clothes that she had bought all of those months ago. She can buy new clothes when she gets her body back.

Just the thought made her giddy. _She's going to get her body back_. It was more than a little difficult to believe. After centuries of imagining what it would be like to be herself again, she was more than a little nervous. Castiel had assured her that there was nothing wrong with the body physically, but she couldn't help but worry. What if she's just remembering through a haze? What if she was super ugly, but she's blocking that from her memory?

Meg chose to ignore that when she heard a groan from the bed. She was sitting on the floor, so she had to sit up straighter to see what was going on. Castiel sat up, his hair tousled from sleeping. Meg smiled a bit, he's been sleeping a lot since he spends every waking moment either healing someone or working on her rebuilding her body.

"Good morning," she greeted, stuffing the jeans she had been folding into a bag with the rest of her clothes.

"What are you doing?" Castiel asked, getting out of bed and walking toward her.

"Spring cleaning," she shrugged.

"It's January."

"Winter cleaning, then."

Castiel looked at her suspiciously before shaking his head. He headed toward the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Meg continued to sit on the floor before shrugging and continuing with folding clothes. Tomorrow they were going to leave and she was beyond excited.

Meg had almost finished with folding when the bell at the front desk came to her attention. Carole was always manning the desk, ready to strike a lodger with her kindness. The fact that the bell just wouldn't stop sounding was a more than a little strange. There was a knock on the door moments later.

"Come in," Meg said, standing up.

Carole came into the room and motioned for her to come forward. Meg walked toward her and was about to ask what was up when Carole told her.

"I think it's a customer for Castiel," she said. "He's a little different from the other ones though."

"Okay, I'll go check him out," Meg assured.

Carole nodded in agreement. They walked out of the suite and Carole went straight to her own room. The door closed behind her quickly, but Meg paid it no mind. She headed downstairs, completely aware that she looked like she just fell out of bed.

There was a man in the lobby. He looked a little rugged and Meg pegged him instantly. He was a hunter.

Her body was almost screaming at her to run, but she knows that won't get her anywhere. The man looked at her and squinted.

"Who are you?" he asked in a Southern drawl.

"Meg," she said almost instantly.

Then she wanted to kick herself. Why did she tell him her real name?

"Who are you?" he asked again.

Apparently he doesn't want to know her name, but rather what she's doing at the inn. Or her connection with "Emmanuel". At least he doesn't suspect her of being a demon.

"I'm Emmanuel's wife," Meg lied smoothly, waving her left hand with the rings on it in front of him.

The man nodded, still squinting at her. It's then that Meg realized that he was losing his sight. A hunter without his sight was pretty useless.

"What can I do for you?" Meg asked, walking toward the front desk and leaning against it.

"I'm going blind," he said. "My right eye is already gone."

"Well, I'll go get him," Meg said. "Who are you?"

"Mackey," he said, giving no more information.

Meg nodded before hurrying back up the stairs. Castiel was leaning against the door of the honeymoon suite. He looked like he had been listening in.

"He's a hunter," she said.

"I know," Castiel said. "It's fine. If he has any demon tests, I'll pass them. You should stay up here."

Castiel left the hallway, leaving Meg to wait. She slid down the door and sat with her back against it. It was easy to listen in on what was happening downstairs.

First there was holy water, then there was silver, then there was salt. After a few more tests Mackey was convinced and Castiel effortlessly healed him. There was a short conversation after that. Mackey wanted to know how he could get ahold of him again. Castiel told him to come back to the inn and talk to Carole, that she would contact him.

Mackey left shortly after. Meg waited patiently against the door until he came walking up the stairs. Castiel shot her a small smile and she stood up.

"That went well," she said.

"I suppose it did," he shrugged.

Castiel opened the door to the suite and they walked in. He sat down on the bed and she leaned against the dresser, watching him.

"Are you sure you want a hunter knowing how to contact you?" she asked. "Who knows who he's going to tell about you."

"It's fine," he dismissed, shaking his head.

There were a few moments of silence that were a little awkward. Awkward moments of silence had been coming between them a lot lately, but this one felt particularly strange. What was so awkward?

"Um, do you want to start packing your stuff?" she asked.

"Sure, I can do that," he said.

Maybe Meg was a little worried. What if hunters started tracking them down because of Mackey? What if Mackey told two certain hunters about an amazing healer.

Yeah, like that would happen. The Winchesters were only going to find them when they wanted to be found. And that sure as hell wasn't happening anytime soon.


End file.
